Last week we reported that the MLB was in fact coming back this year, as the words came straight from Rob Manfred, the current commissioner. Since then, there’s been a rollercoaster of emotions as it’s at times appeared that baseball wouldn’t be coming back at all. This tweet from 3 days ago seemed to be the final nail in the coffin after weeks of failed negotiations between the league/owners and players:
BREAKING: MLB commissioner Rob Manfred tells @Espngreeny that he’s “not confident” there will be a 2020 baseball season. “Unfortunately," Manfred said, "I can’t tell you that I’m a 100% certain that’s gonna happen.”
News at @espn: https://t.co/h1I6Yh5R55
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 15, 2020
Rob Manfred has shown before that we can’t really take his word for literally anything, so the fact that he gave us all so much hope just to shoot it down days later was pretty maddening. Naturally, as with most things these days, Twitter exploded and sportswriters everywhere took the opportunity to express their opinions:
Fire Rob Manfred. pic.twitter.com/M0ncdAcBCD
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) June 15, 2020
ESPN presents: "The Return of (Some) Sports" https://t.co/ZLDsVnSMl7
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) June 15, 2020
MLBPA: Tell us when and where and we'll play
MLB: No https://t.co/Wa1cYO40qN— Marc Normandin (@Marc_Normandin) June 15, 2020
Just when everything seemed hopeless, a full two days later, reporter Jon Heyman broke the news that things were back on track and the demands of players were actually being met.
Breaking: MLB and players union are closing in on an agreement to play the 2020 season, via players. Deal expected to be for prorated pay and include expanded playoffs.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) June 17, 2020
Absolute insanity that the league would not only get their shit together, but with a proposal that makes sense? Maybe there really are baseball gods and they just felt too bad for us at this point. Negotiations are still ongoing at of this writing regarding the exact number of games that will be played (in the 60-70 range), but the optimism level is at an all time high. Without jumping to a final conclusion, it sure looks like baseball is back, folks!
