MLB Rumors: Owners, Players Not Discussing Spring Training Delay Amid COVID-19

Major League Baseball and its Players Association are reportedly "not engaged in conversations on a possible delay" to the start of spring training in 2021.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported as much, also noting:

"The commissioner's office floated the idea to the union in early December. The union asked if the league would be willing to lengthen the season by the same number of days it lost at the start and if not, pay players for any games missed. When the league answered no, the union indicated it did not want to discuss the matter further, maintaining that it wanted to play 162 games at full pay."

The Arizona Cactus League also reportedly wants to delay spring training:

Per Rosenthal, those talks "did not become as contentious" as the conversations the two sides had ahead of last season's 60-game slate amid the pandemic.

League officials reportedly are "frustrated by what they perceive to be the union's refusal to negotiate, and point to a separate discussion involving the designated hitter, expanded postseason and other matters as the latest example, in their view, of the union's intransigence."

The players union, meanwhile, is advocating for the best financial scenario for their players. As has become the norm in recent years, the gap between the two sides is cavernous. 

From purely a health perspective, pushing back the start of spring training and the regular season would make sense as the coronavirus continues to impact life in the United States and Canada. The NBA, for instance, has already had to postpone 21 games this season. 

But MLB players are also coming off a season that saw them take prorated salaries in a shortened season. They have economic reasons to want a full season. And MLB owners are coming off a season largely played without fans and the corresponding revenues that come from the gameday experience. They have economic reasons to potentially shorten the season during a pandemic, when full stadiums seem unlikely for quite some time.

Or as Rosenthal put it, "The players are skeptical of the league's motives, believing any effort by MLB to stage a shorter season and expanded postseason would be motivated by a goal of saving money. Certain hawkish owners probably want to proceed precisely along those lines."

Baseball clearly has a trust issue between its players and owners. The COVID-19 pandemic has only further exacerbated it.