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"At my request, Tony Clark and I met for
several hours (Tuesday) in Phoenix," Manfred said in a statement
Wednesday. "We left that meeting with a jointly developed
framework that we agreed could form the basis of an agreement
and subject to conversations with our respective constituents. I
summarized that framework numerous times in the meeting and sent
Tony a written summary today. Consistent with our conversations
(Tuesday), I am encouraging the Clubs to move forward and I
trust Tony is doing the same."
ESPN's Buster Olney and The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported
the offer on the table from owners is to play a 60-game regular
season with player receiving a full prorated portion of their
individual salaries.
Olney added that the proposed date for season openers is July
19. According to Rosenthal, MLB's 60-game plan has play starting
July 19 or July 20 and running for 70 days.
USA Today's Ken Rosenthal reported that, if a deal is in place
by Friday, training camps would start by June 29, with most
teams gathering in their home cities.
According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the players see a "pathway to a
deal."
The division between owners and players appeared to be growing
through public negotiating tactics and modest proposals. Clark
and the union broke off negotiations on Saturday and ultimately
asked Manfred to use his power as commissioner to set the
outline of the season, including the number of games and when
the playoffs would end.
The statement from Clark prompted players to launch a social
media campaign of which the gist was "Tell us when and where"
the season will begin.
Manfred is pushing to play the season, according to multiple
franchise owners and decision-makers, who've talked about the
challenges facing baseball on the record. Whether he has enough
support from owners to put players on the field for games that
won't likely include fans in attendance is another matter.
Red Sox president Sam Kennedy said Tuesday in a NESN interview
that "No one wants to play baseball more than Rob. ... Nobody is
more dedicated to serving the game than Rob. He's been working
in baseball, working with the owners, the front offices for
decades.
"This is something that is critical and both sides need to talk
and get to a place where we can get the game back on the field.
But as you heard (Monday) night, that's very, very difficult to
do without a lot of dialog. So I'm very hopeful on behalf of our
fans and everyone in our front office that the dialog picks up
and the two sides are able to talk and get to a place where we
can start playing again. The country needs baseball, and we're
ready to go at Fenway Park."
Rosenthal reported "at least eight" owners are against playing
the 2020 season.
Manfred needs approval of 22 of baseball's 30 owners to resume
the season.
--Field Level Media
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