Tampa Bay Rays News: Rob Manfred no longer 100% we’ll see baseball

Tampa Bay Rays News: MLB commissioner Rob Manfred now uncertain about the 2020 season.

Tampa Bay Rays News: Just days after MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told ESPN’s Karl Ravech that he’s “100 percent” sure there will be a season, he has changed his mind.

As reported by Jeff Passan of ESPN, in a discussion with Mike Greenberg for ESPN’s “The Return of Sports” program (set to air at 9 p.m. tonight) the baseball commish told Greenberg that he’s no longer confident that there will be a 2020 season.

The commissioner made his declaration last week in response to the players’ 89-game season proposal. The commissioner was likely leaning on the March 26th agreement which provides Major League Baseball with the ability to set a schedule for the season.

The league ultimately responded with another rebuttal of a 70% pay cut. The players responded by throwing up their hands and saying, (I’m paraphrasing) “Forget it, just tell us when to show up so we can get this over with!”

You can read more about that right here.

It is understood that the commissioner has the power, per the March agreement, to implement a 48-game schedule with fully prorated pay for the players.

"MLBPA executive director Tony Clark had the following to say regarding the MLB’s recent counteroffer, “It, unfortunately, appears that further dialogue with the league would be futile. It’s time to get back to work. Tell us when and where.”"

Evidently, the commissioner told ESPN that while Tony Clark was publicly putting the ball in the court of the owners that he believed the union planned to file a grievance once the schedule was announced. The grievance would state that the owners had not “fulfilled its obligation under the March 26 agreement to play the most games possible.”

We are left with so many questions.

Who do you think is in the right here? Are the owners being greedy? Are the players being greedy? Are both sides being greedy while the rest of the country navigates extreme unemployment numbers? Should agree to a pay cut to play under increased health risk? Is it wrong to compare the playing of baseball to jobs essential to a functioning society?

Was Jar Jar Binks just an annoying children’s character or a symbol of how powerful people can empower fools in order to carry out their maniacal plans? So many questions…