Former MLB GM Explains How Players Can Fight Back if Rob Manfred Implements 50-Game Season
By Michael Luciano
Rob Manfred and the owners seem to want a paltry 50-game season to serve as the already-truncated 2020 MLB campaign, but there is still a way Tony Clark and the MLBPA could force the owners to defend their plan from a financial point of view, at the risk of exposing it as unnecessary economically.
Former MLB GM Jim Bowden claims that the players' union could file a grievance against the league, which could force them to show the financials behind their plan. Doing so would prove or disprove the "economic feasibility" of a fuller season.
However, the union could then file a grievance and force owners to turn over financials they haven’t already turned over to them to prove “Economic Feasibility”.
— Jim Bowden (@JimBowdenGM) June 4, 2020
The concerns over a 50-game schedule are obvious. While the financial end of things will gave players a paltry return, even with prorated salaries, it's fair to question if 50 games, less than one-third of a full season, is a meaty enough schedule to have a pennant race with any integrity.
The players, meanwhile, want more than double the amount of games the owners are proposing, as they'd prefer to play up to 114 games. The solution likely lies somewhere in the middle, and filing a grievance could force the owners to increase the number of games.
After heated meeting on player pay, MLB threatens 50-game schedule. Story with @EvanDrellich: https://t.co/Xkl5Qr1VKD
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) June 2, 2020
50 games satisfies no one but the owners, and 114 might be too difficult to squeeze into four months. If the league files this grievance, there is a chance that a more viable 82-game season eventually gets implemented.