Major League Baseball will play 60-game season

Hours after MLB Players’ Association reps rejected Major League Baseball’s proposal for a 60-game season with provisions, the league announced it will implement a 60-game schedule, after all, with no provisions. The season is expected to start between July 24-26 with teams reporting for workouts and training by July 1.

The announcement was made via a statement released by MLB headquarters shortly before 8:30 p.m. Monday night.

The statement read, in part, “In view of this rejection, the MLB Clubs have unanimously voted to proceed with the 2020 season under the terms of the March 26th Agreement.”

Players, under that agreement, will be paid on a per-game basis, and it’s believed the PA will file a grievance that the league did not negotiate in good faith to formulate a return-to-play plan for 2020.

The statement from Major League Baseball continued, “In order to produce a schedule with a specific number of games, we are asking that the Players Association provide to us by 5:00 p.m. (ET) tomorrow with two pieces of information. The first is whether players will be able to report to camp within seven days (by July 1). The second is whether the Players Association will agree on the Operating Manual which contains the health and safety protocols necessary to give us the best opportunity to conduct and complete our regular season and Postseason.”

This weekend, Red Sox president Sam Kennedy announced when a training period opens, the Red Sox will practice at Fenway Park, with an expanded roster and provisional equipment set up throughout the ballpark to accommodate extra players.

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