Royals Rumblings - News for June 2, 2020

Royals Rumblings - News for June 1, 2020

News of the day surrounds two separate counter-proposals for the baseball season. The first comes from the MLBPA, as explained by The Athletic ($):

The Major League Baseball Players Association on Sunday proposed that the 2020 season consist of 114 games from June 30 to Oct. 31 — without players taking any additional pay cuts.

As expected, the union did not give ground on player salaries except to offer up to $100 million in deferrals if the postseason is canceled or shortened, according to a source with knowledge of the details. The union also offered to endorse an expanded playoff system for this year and next, viewing it as a win for both fans and teams in addition to players...

...The union’s counterproposal, coming five days after the league’s most recent offer, includes several provisions that might provide groundwork for further discussions.

Among those provisions: the right for players to opt out of playing this season if they choose. The union’s proposal says any players who are deemed “high risk,” or who live with someone “high risk,” can opt out and receive both service time and pay. All others can opt out as well, but would only receive service time, not pay.

On the other hand, the league is considering a shorter season, wherein players would receive full prorated salaries over 50 or so games:

Unable to yet reach a return-to-play agreement, Major League Baseball has discussed playing a shorter schedule in which it would pay members of the MLB Players Association their full prorated salaries, sources familiar with the situation told ESPN.

Though MLB does not intend to propose this to the players, the possibility of implementing a schedule of around 50 games that would start in July has been considered by the league as a last resort in the event the parties can’t come to a deal, sources said.

Players have held out for a full prorated portion of their salaries based on a March 26 agreement with the league, and in an offer Sunday proposed a 114-game schedule that would cover 70.3% of their original salaries. A 50-game schedule with full pro rata would pay the players 30.8% of that number.

Zigging where other clubs are zagging, Kansas City’s position on not cutting minor leaguers and continuing to pay them through the end of the standard MiLB season has been met with widespread approval, especially among current and former players.

Moore explained the decision Friday during a video call.

“The minor-league player, the players that you’ll never know about, the players that never get out of rookie ball or High-A, those players have as much impact on the growth of our game as 10-year, 15-year veteran players,” Moore said.

“They have as much opportunity to influence the growth of our game as those individuals that play for a long time because those are the individuals that go back into their communities and teach the game. They work in academies. They’re junior college coaches. They’re college coaches. They’re scouts. They coach in professional baseball. They’re growing the game constantly because they’re so passionate about it.”

The Royals are one of a few clubs to make a statement about the George Floyd killing, Black Lives Matter, and the recent protests, all somehow without actually saying any of those words:

Has Major League Baseball blown their chance to be at the vanguard of sports as leagues try to return from Covid-19 delays?

USA Today takes a look at which teams would benefit and which teams would suffer from a shortened season.

As delays drag on, even non-Royals fans look fondly back on the 2014 season because of its competitiveness.

Call of Duty delays its next season and Sony delays its Playstation 5 showcase out of deference to the current unrest.

In Taiwan, a Tesla Model 3 in Autopilot smashed into an overturned, stationary truck on the highway at high speed.

Facebook employees are criticizing Mark Zuckerberg’s handling of recent news on...Twitter, I guess?

Oh yeah, and there are hurricanes, too. Yay!

Song of the Day

Lawrence - It’s Not All About You