NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball plans to unilaterally issue a 60-game schedule for its shortest season since 1878 after the players’ association rejected a negotiated deal of the same length, putting the sport on track for a combative and possibly unhappy return to the field amid the coronavirus pandemic. Six days after baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred and union head Tony Clark negotiated to expand the playoffs from 10 teams to 16, widen use of the designated hitter to National League games and introduce an experiment to start extra innings with a runner on second base, the deal was rejected by the union.
In a statement, MLB put forth two directives to the union and requested an answer by 4:00 PM CDT Tuesday. They refer to the ability of players to report to training camp by July 1 and the ratification of a safety and testing protocol. Reportedly, all spring training sites in Florida and Arizona have been ordered by MLB to be closed and sanitized, so training would be done in the teams’ home cities.
