Spring training will start on time after the players’ union rejects MLB pitch for delay

Spring training will start on time, after all.

As for the regular season, check back.

With decades of mutual distrust hanging low and the specter of labor unrest in 10 months, Major League Baseball announced late Monday night an on-time start for spring training after the players association rejected the league’s pitch for a one-month delay.

Citing the recommendation of medical experts, MLB proposed last Friday to push back the opening of camps in Florida and Arizona until March 22 and to trim the season to 154 games while paying the players for 162. But a volley between the sides ended as almost all their interactions do: with sharply worded statements and no deal.

“In light of the MLBPA’s rejection of our proposal, and their refusal to counter our revised offer this afternoon, we are moving forward and instructing our Clubs to report for an on-time start to Spring Training and the Championship Season,” MLB said in a statement, “subject to reaching an agreement on health and safety protocols.”

Not exactly an enthusiastic call to play ball, is it?

Phillies pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to Clearwater, Fla., in two weeks. It’s not known whether fans will be permitted to attend exhibition games at Spectrum Field. Tickets are not yet on sale.

“As far as we know now, we’re expecting to start on time, so we have to prepare for that,” star catcher J.T. Realmuto said Monday in a videoconference to announce his five-year, $115.5 million contract. “If things change, then we can kind of throttle back. But as of now, we don’t have a different start date than what we’ve been given.”

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In pushing for a delay, MLB hoped the additional time would allow for COVID-19 infection rates to decrease nationwide -- more than half the teams train in Arizona, a virus hot spot -- and for the distribution of vaccines to be more widespread.

But the players must agree to any changes to the collective bargaining agreement, which expires Dec. 1. And although MLB asserted that the 154-game proposal wasn’t “impacting any rights either the players or the Clubs currently have” under the CBA, the players took a different view, claiming that language in the deal would have broadened commissioner Rob Manfred’s power to cancel additional games for which the players wouldn’t get paid.

“Although Player salaries would not be initially prorated to a 154-game regular season,” the players association said in a statement, “MLB’s proposal offers no salary or service time protection in the event of further delays, interruptions, or cancellation of the season.”

When the sides were unable to reach an agreement for the 2020 season, Manfred imposed a 60-game schedule in which players were paid for 60 games. In that case, though, the CBA gave Manfred the authority to set the parameters of a season without the players’ cooperation because the nation was in a state of emergency. Those conditions don’t exist now.

The players also pointed to the ongoing NBA and NHL seasons, Sunday’s Super Bowl in Tampa, Fla., and their ability to successfully complete last season while adhering to strict health and safety protocols as reasons that delaying spring training is unnecessary. MLB claimed the request to push everything back was based on the advice of medical experts.

Thus, spring training is poised to open in two weeks amid the potential risk for outbreaks in camps and uncertainty over whether fans will be able to attend exhibition games.

“We do not make this decision lightly,” the players association said of rejecting MLB’s proposal. “Players know first-hand the efforts to complete the abbreviated 2020 season, and we appreciate that significant challenges lie ahead.”

MLB’s plan also allowed for the use of the designated hitter in the National League in exchange for expanded playoffs, changes that were made in 2020 but must be negotiated for 2021 and beyond. While the players support the universal DH, they are worried that an easier road to the playoffs will prompt owners to spend less money on payroll.

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said the team has been planning to not have the use of a DH this season aside from games in American League ballparks but is confident in being able to fill the position internally.

“Do you wish you knew exactly how the rules would be? Sure, I think that would be advantageous,” Dombrowski said. “We have a good offensive team, that’s how I look at it. The strength of our ballclub is our offense, and when you go around to different positions, it gives us a lot of availability for somebody to take a break on a particular day without having a full-time DH. I think we’re set up pretty well for that.”