NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says there might be no major league games this year.
This comes amid a breakdown in talks between teams and the players' union on how to split up money in a season delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.
The league also revealed several players have tested positive for COVID-19.
Two days after union head Tony Clark declared additional negotiations futile, Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem sent a seven-page letter to players’ association chief negotiator Bruce Meyer asking the union whether it will waive the threat of legal action and tell MLB to announce a spring training report date and a regular-season schedule.
“The proliferation of COVID-19 outbreaks around the country over the last week, and the fact that we already know of several 40-man roster players and staff who have tested positive, has increased the risks associated with commencing spring training in the next few weeks,” Halem wrote in his letter to Meyer, which was obtained by the Associated Press.
The pandemic caused the league to stop spring training on March 12, two weeks before the start of the season. On March 26, the sides reached an agreement on how to revise their labor deal to account for the virus. Hostility has escalated since then as both sides exchange offers.
