Appearing on a CNN coronavirus town hall, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he is 'hopeful we will have some Major League Baseball this summer.'
in this truncated season, which may be played in its entirety without fans, reducing revenues by about 40% to 60% per team. MLB Players' Association executive director Tony Clark will not accept that plan, believing a pro-rated percentage of salaries was agreed upon by both sides in March.
Manfred and ownership did not present economic issues to the MLBPA in a call on Tuesday, instead laying out the specifics of player safety while playing in a pandemic; Manfred said 80 pages of health protocols covered everything from testing to the cleaning of airplanes, buses and other necessities. "Whenever there's a discussion about economics, people characterize it as a fight," he said."I have great confidence we’ll reach agreement with the players association – both on making it safe to come back to work, and the economic issues involved."
He said he talked to the governors of all 18 states that host an MLB franchise and said"most governors expressed hopes we’d be able to use facilities, without fans," while noting contingency plans are in place. States such as California – home to five MLB franchises – with stricter stay-at-home orders may force the league to relocate teams. Gov.
Roughly one month remains until teams would have to gather for a compressed spring training, and seven weeks until the hoped-for early July start – health conditions and economic harmony willing."The economic effects are devastating, frankly for the clubs," Manfred said if the season does not get off the ground."We’re a big business but we’re a seasonal business. If we don’t play a season, the losses for the owners could approach $4 billion.
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