TAMPA, Fla. — Wednesday morning, MLB called a meeting with the umpires union, which is seen by many as yet another sign of growing optimism about a 2020 baseball season. The meeting was to negotiate “working conditions for a possible 2020 season,” according to one umpire.
The meetings were called on the eve of a deadline for the umpires to get their next paycheck and the league is looking to renegotiate salary cuts of up to 35% because of the loss of revenue due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the umpire confirmed.
If no new deal is reached by Friday morning, MLB told the umpires they would not be paid until the season resumed, assuming that happens. The league had negotiated a similar pay cut with the players union, which received a one-time payment to split among its members to carry them over until a season could be resumed.
The umpires would also have to agree to some unique working conditions that could include quarantining away from the ballpark, which is also part of the negotiations, according to the source.
USA Today reported Thursday evening that these negotiations were one of the latest signs that MLB is laying the groundwork for the resumption of baseball.
The paper also reported on a plan that would have teams resume their spring training, abruptly halted seven weeks ago, back in their major league cities rather than Florida or Arizona, according to team executives. That plan would save teams money — they would not have to provide housing and per diems for a second spring training — and would limit the challenges of traveling.
While optimism about a 2020 season continues to grow among the league and its executives, one MLB source said this idea has been discussed but had significant obstacles, including how to do this in localities that were hit hard by COVID-19, particularly New York, and are still recovering.
At the very least, the Yankees are expecting some players might return to Florida. According to two sources around their major league spring training site, they have been told to expect “some” players to return to George M. Steinbrenner Field as soon as next week.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis is allowing the “Safer at Home” orders to expire and businesses around the state are beginning to slowly return.
DeSantis is actively working to keep sports going in the state. He classified the WWE, filmed in Orlando, as an essential business and let it continue filming — albeit without fans — while the rest of the state was in shutdown.
“We got UFC to come to Jacksonville. Again, there’s not going to be any fans, but I think that’s going to be a good event for people. I worked with Phil Mickelson on making sure they have what they need for that Tiger Woods match,” DeSantis said on Wednesday. “So there’s going to be a lot of good stuff going on but I don’t think we’re probably ready to have fans. I do think, if the trends are good, I think as you get into June, July, I think there is a window to have some fans. You’re not going to have everyone packed in, but man in 90-degree weather in the state of Florida, if you’re out there and someone’s 10 feet away from you and you want to watch a ballgame or something, you may be able to do that.
“So this is something that we’re just going to have to do. We’ll be driven by the facts, driven by the data. But I think that Major League Baseball coming back, I’m hearing this, I think that that’s going to be exciting for a lot of people and I just think that there’s going to be a lot of possibilities, so let’s just be resourceful and creative.”
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