After days of angry exchanges over money between Major League Baseball and the players’ association, baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred started to doubt whether there would be a 2020 season and said as much on national television.
He then called union head Tony Clark and offered to fly from New York to Arizona to meet for the first time in three months. They spoke one on one for hours Tuesday in a room at The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale and emerged with what MLB considers a framework to play the pandemic-delayed season in empty ballparks, not just a proposal.
The plan includes full prorated pay, even if games are played in empty ballparks, people familiar with the details told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because details were not announced.
Each team would play 60 games over 10 weeks starting July 20, though a Sunday opener on July 19 could be added. The framework would result in players receiving about 37 per cent of their salaries and would come to roughly $1.48 billion US from salaries originally totalling $4 billion.
Baseball’s post-season would expand from 10 teams to 16 this year, and the two wild card games would transform into an eight-team wild-card round with eight best-of-three series. That would create a minimum of 14 new playoff games whose broadcast rights could be sold, and MLB would have the option of 14 or 16 post-season teams in 2021.
MLB would guarantee a $25 million post-season players’ pool, creating post-season shares for players in the event no tickets are sold.
The designated hitter would expand to all games for the first time, also involving games between National League teams, for 2020 and 2021.
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Both sides would contribute jointly to initiatives for social justice.
Players with so-called split contracts, who get paid at a lower salary rate when sent to the minor leagues, would not have to repay the advance they already have received: $16,500, $30,000 or $60,000, depending on their contract.
MLB considers it a framework for each leader to sell to each side. The union did not comment.
“At my request, Tony Clark and I met for several hours yesterday 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.
“Consistent with our conversations yesterday, I am encouraging the clubs to move forward, and I trust Tony is doing the same,” Manfred added.
Details of union’s latest offer
The union’s last offer on June 9 was for an 89-game schedule at full prorated pay, which would result in 55 per cent of salaries and about $2.2 billion.
Top stars Mike Trout and Gerrit Cole would each get about $13.33 million under MLB’s latest plan and $19.78 million under the union proposal. A player with a $1 million salary would get $370,370 under the club plan and $549,383 under the players’ proposal. The $563,500 minimum would be worth $208,704 under MLB’s plan and $309,577 under the union’s.
The union also would waive additional claims that could cause an expensive grievance.
Manfred and Clark got into such detail during the meeting they recessed for a period to allow Manfred to consult owners on MLB’s labour policy committee.
After considering the framework, players could counter with a higher amount of games, perhaps by adding doubleheaders.
Before this week, Manfred and Clark had not met since March 13-14 in Arizona, the two days after spring training was suspended due to the new coronavirus.
Manfred maintained last week he was “100 per cent” sure there would be a season, but following angry exchanges last weekend he said Monday “there’s real risk” of no season.
Baseball deteriorated into labour strife while the NBA, NHL and MLS have moved forward with restart plans.
While baseball had eight work stoppages from 1972-95, the sides have negotiated four straight labour contracts without interrupting play. But tensions have increased in recent years, with the union losing a grievance accusing the Chicago Cubs of manipulating third baseman Kris Bryant’s service time to delay his free agency and filing a grievance accusing several clubs of failing to properly use their revenue sharing money.
Tensions mount
Players have accused several noncompetitive teams of “tanking.” Clubs say they have the right to jettison veterans and redirect resources to rebuilding.
And the average salary has remained in the $4.4 million range for five straight seasons, stagnating after Clark led his first labour negotiations as successor to the late Michael Weiner.
Amid that backdrop, and with the prospect of collective bargaining to replace the current labour deal that expires on Dec. 1, 2021, tensions ratcheted up when the virus struck.
The sides reached a deal on March 26 that called for players to receive prorated pay, $170 million in salary advances and a guarantee of service time even if no games are played this year. In exchange, players waived claims for additional pay, giving up a right to test whether Manfred could successfully invoke the provision in Uniform Player Contracts allowing him to suspend those contracts during a national emergency.
When it became apparent the season would have to start in ballparks without fans, MLB told the union on May 12 that teams would combine to lose $640,000 for each additional regular-season game, claiming 40 per cent of revenue is gate and gate-related. The union challenged MLB’s figures and asked for additional documentation.
MLB then made its first economic proposal May 26, offering an 82-game schedule and saying additional pay cuts were needed. Players refused to entertain additional cuts and asked for 114 games. MLB moved to 76 games and then 72 last week, reworking the finances but still refusing full prorated pay. While the union wants to extend the post-season into November, MLB says it fears a second wave of the virus in the autumn would jeopardize $787 million in broadcast revenue.
Players cut off talks Saturday, a day after MLB’s last proposal, and said additional negotiations were futile. Players told MLB to unilaterally set the schedule but Manfred said MLB would not while there was a threat of a grievance.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
