As baseball officials try to figure out the best approach to dealing with the fallout from COVID-19, the league and the union are at odds over player access to spring training facilities.
For now, Major League Baseball and the Players Association agree that spring training facilities are to remain open to major-league players in a limited capacity, with organized group workouts prohibited. MLB issued a memo clarifying the league’s new protocols on Sunday, following two days of in-person meetings between league and union officials.
“The strong recommendation from our infectious disease and public health experts is that Clubs should avoid all activities in which players congregate in significant numbers or are otherwise unable to practice the ‘social distancing’ protocols recommended by the CDC,” deputy commissioner Dan Halem wrote in his memo.
Later Sunday, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended the cancellations of in-person gatherings of 50 or more people for the next eight weeks, perhaps ensuring that no professional sports league will resume play before May 10.
Players support social-distancing efforts, but the union is concerned by the widely differing approaches clubs have taken to facilitate access after commissioner Rob Manfred ordered the season delayed on Thursday. The league, reacting partly to the union’s complaints, sent the memo as a move toward greater uniformity.
The apparent inclination of some clubs to close their facilities raised suspicions on the players’ side about those teams’ motives, reflecting the ongoing labor tension in the sport. Both before and after Halem’s memo, the union received accounts from players or their representatives who were told their camps were to be shut down. Marlins president Derek Jeter reportedly said as much to players on Sunday.
A union official noted that such actions were in violation of agreements between MLB and the MLBPA. Halem reinforced those agreements in his note on Sunday, saying: “40-Man Roster players must be permitted to remain at the Club’s Spring Training site, and are eligible to receive their usual Spring Training allowances.”
Players, agents and union officials cite a number of factors in explaining why clubs should continue to provide major leaguers access to their facilities. Some players do not want to travel in the current climate. Others might live near the spring complex. Foreign players might not be able to return home easily, if at all. In addition, many players view a team facility as a safer, more controlled environment than a local gym.
The MLB memo specifies that clubs should provide players who choose to remain with access to medical care, but says teams are not required to provide all services normally available during spring training, such as on-site meals.
In the view of several executives and MLB officials, any objection to limited access in the middle of a public health crisis misses the larger point of trying to keep players safe. Those officials worry that keeping spring training sites open in any capacity will only delay a shutdown. The Yankees on Sunday said they will quarantine their minor leaguers for two weeks after one of them tested positive for COVID-19. Elsewhere, executives fear their organizations soon will face the same decision.
Club officials also express concern that older staff members at spring training facilities will be exposed to the virus by coming into contact with players who might be carriers.
“We understand that many 40-Man Roster players have chosen to remain in camp to date, but we anticipate that may change in the coming days as events continue to unfold and players become better educated about current conditions,” Halem wrote in his memo.
Most minor-league players are to be sent home, per Sunday’s memo. Even as MLB and the PA technically agree that facilities are to be open to major-league players for now, they differ about what “open” means.
Two agents used the same word — “chaos” — to describe the mixed messages players are receiving. The confusion, however, is partly the result of protocols that are changing rapidly according to the available information, MLB and club officials say.
The Orioles are among several teams cited in complaints to the union about player access to facilities, along with the Brewers, Braves, Marlins and Mets, a person familiar with the complaints said.
The Orioles’ facility is undergoing a deep cleaning, according to a club official. The Brewers are going through the same process, making certain areas temporarily off-limits. But about a dozen of their pitchers are scheduled to throw bullpen sessions at their complex on Monday, a club official said. The Braves, meanwhile, say they have remained open, and a Mets official did not immediately respond to a question about where the team stood.
Nonetheless, some on the players’ side have questioned how quickly clubs are in fact attempting to re-open.
The league and the PA continue to discuss a slew of issues, including service time and scheduling. The next set of conversations will take place by phone after Manfred and MLBPA executive director Tony Clark met face to face in Arizona on Friday and Saturday. The commissioner is scheduled to talk to all the teams Monday at noon ET.
No comments:
Post a Comment