To be clear, we already STRONGLY suspected this was true, we now have confirmation coming from a baseball front office: yes, the league is committed to having at least SOME season this year. And, since the league can unilaterally impose some version of the season (with prorated pay), yes, some version of baseball is going to happen.
From Red Sox President and CEO Sam Kennedy (MassLive): “I’m very optimistic that we will come together. We have obviously committed to playing at least a 50-game schedule. Hopefully, we’ll make progress sooner rather than later because, boy, I think the country needs baseball, the greatest game ever invented, to get us going again.”
Until now, we all believed that the owners would rather impose a 50-ish game season rather than lose everything, but no one was actually saying it out loud. So there you go.
What we still don’t know is whether the owners are equally committed to getting an actual agreement in place with the players, which would provide (1) a longer season, (2) expanded playoffs, (3) more fair compensation for players, and (4) a quicker return for baseball. Increasingly, it’s felt like the owners simply want to drag things out so they can, in a month, say “sorry, we tried, now we have no choice but to impose a 50-game season.” Based on the negotiations, we have no reasonable basis at this moment to believe a deal is coming together any time soon that actually makes sense (i.e., 70+ games, full prorated pay, expanded postseason, player agreement to “extra stuff” during games and other events, etc.).
But there’s today’s hollow victory: the league is committed to at least playing 50 games this year (even if it comes by way of no agreement at all, and a lot of anger, and a worse product). Huzzah.
(I remember when I was just so ready to be excited about the return of baseball. Thanks for sapping that, guys. Sigh. I want that feeling back.)