After a long process of failed negotiations, rows between owners and players, and rejected proposals between the league and its union, Major League Baseball announced on Monday night that it is going to unilaterally implement a plan for baseball to return in July.
After the players rejected the league’s final proposal over the weekend, it asked commissioner Rob Manfred to unilaterally implement a plan for the regular season and playoffs per a March agreement that allowed this sort of move as a last resort.
Manfred’s decision was then to proceed with the season per his own terms, including a 60-game regular season and a playoff format which would be unchanged, involving ten teams.
Players are set to receive full pro-rated compensation for these 60 games along with the playoffs, and the theoretical Opening Day is set to be on July 24th.
In order for the plan to be put in motion and become “official,” the MLBPA will be asked to confirm to the league that it will be able to have its players report to MLB stadiums by July 1st in order to begin a training period. In addition, it will be asked to comply with and agree to a set of safety protocols.
These final two details are widely expected to be accepted by the union, which means that the baseball season could finally be set to take place after months of drama and uncertainty.
