MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred shown here at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit in New York stands with the owners proposal to start a 76 game season which the players are opposed to   (sports.yahoo.com)

MLB: The Clock Is Now the Umpire

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

With all the back and forth during these negotiations, there is no doubt the Clock is now THE factor. After the players union proposed an 89-game season with full prorated pay at the end of Tuesday, which was quickly brushed aside by the owners.

Get ready for either: 1) A 50 games season or 2) No season at all. Both sides do not want to play a regular season past the September 27th date; one of the few things that have been mutually agreed during this negotiating exercise. Anything after that would land the playoffs into November and both sides are afraid that going into the winter the Covid-19 “wild card” could show-up.

Commissioner Rob Manfred can implement a schedule and the players are required to show up. We are dangerously closing-in on that final decision, a 50 game season, which will guarantee the players with prorated salaries, which is exactly what the players last proposed and agreed among themselves they would accept, but the players want more than 50 games, because they will get paid more.

At the end a 50-game schedule might be the best they are going to get. However, if this is adapted and the season comes down to 50 games, this could have serious repercussions for the future negotiations after the 2021 season, the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) labor agreement that is on the agenda.

A 50-game season could risk the perception by the public that they are just playing for the money (with playoffs which is the big revenue producer) during a time where a lot of people are unemployed and struggling, because of the Covid-19 closures all over the country, although most States are re-opening and getting their economies back on track. Regardless what happens this year, MLB is headed for a bumpy ride in 2021.

The 2020 Baseball season is running out of options. The Clock, which is non-negotiable, is now dictating what might, might be a last effort decision to save the season. If you call a season 50 games.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish play by play announcer on 1010 KIQI San Francisco and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com