MLB given ultimatum to start season after weeks of negotiations between players and owners
Sports reporter and analyst Jason Page weighs in.
The New York Yankees and Mets will return north for spring training just one day after MLB reportedly shut down facilities in Florida and Arizona because of a spike in coronavirus cases, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday.
Cuomo told reporters during a call Saturday afternoon that the teams will return to New York to train in their respective stadiums in the Bronx and Queens, the New York Post reported.
“I can’t wait to see spring training in New York. Great news,” he said. “The Mets and the Yankees have come up with a protocol … They’re putting that in place now. The state and the Department of Health will work with them.”
While the announcement might seem like good news for baseball fans in New York, it comes after five players on the Philadelphia Phillies tested positive for coronavirus, prompting all 30 MLB teams to shut down spring complexes in Florida and Arizona on Friday.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and union executive Tony Clark have also been at odds over plans to restart the season. Manfred has been locked in on a 60-game regular season over fears that a second wave would impact the back end of the already shortened season. Clark is asking for 10 games more.
“I told him 70 games was simply impossible given the calendar and the public health situation, and he went ahead and made that proposal anyway,” Manfred said Thursday.
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The MLBPA announced Friday night that the league informed the union that it would “not respond” to its latest proposal.
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