Top News:
Bob Nightengale / USA Today:
Positive coronavirus tests create urgency in MLB's 2020 negotiations — Major League Baseball had 40 players and staff members test positive for COVID-19 in the past week, creating a sense of urgency in labor negotiations between the owners and players, according to two persons with direct knowledge of the situation.
RELATED:
ESPN:
Sources: MLBPA postpones vote as talks continue with league — Major League Baseball players have reversed course — again — deciding not to vote on Sunday on the league's 60-game proposal, as commissioner Rob Manfred made late tweaks to the offer, sources told ESPN's Jesse Rogers. — EDITOR'S PICKS
Discussion:
DRaysBay, The Athletic and New York Post
Jesse Rogers / ESPN:
Sources: MLBPA delays vote on proposal in wake of spring training outbreaks — Major League Baseball players won't vote on the league's latest proposal to return to the field until they collect new data regarding testing for COVID-19 after several recent outbreaks in spring training and major league cities …
Discussion:
New York Post
Derrick Goold / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
MLB players consider owners' 60-game proposal with unwelcome third party interrupting talks — the virus — As part of his role as an infectious disease expert in the pediatrics department at Washington University School of Medicine, Dr. Jason Newland has actively researched and advised …
Bob Nightengale / USA Today:
MLB considering ties for 2020 season as part of modified extra innings plan — Just when you thought a 2020 baseball season couldn't look more bizarre, Major League Baseball and the players union are considering the possibility of having games end in a tie for the first time in the sport's history …
Discussion:
New York Post, MLB Baseball News …, MLB Trade Rumors and baseballmusings.com
ESPN:
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred quickly rejects union's 70-game proposal
Discussion:
Beyond the Box Score, Sports Illustrated, FanGraphs Baseball, The Athletic, Purple Row, Halos Heaven and True Blue LA
Nick Selbe / Sports Illustrated:
Report: MLB Won't Counter Players' Offer of 70-Game Season
Discussion:
NBCSports.com, Over the Monster and Lone Star Ball
Jim Salisbury / NBCSports.com:
Coronavirus outbreak at Phillies camp in Clearwater hits 5 players — Five Phillies players who had been training at the team's facility in Clearwater, Florida have tested positive for coronavirus in recent days, multiple sources tell NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Discussion:
USA Today, CBSSports.com, Athletics Nation, Amazin' Avenue, MLB.com, Los Angeles Times, Sports Illustrated, Bleed Cubbie Blue, The Good Phight, MLB Baseball News …, Lookout Landing, MLB Daily Dish, Washington Post, New York Post, baseballmusings.com, The Athletic, Bluebird Banter, MLB Trade Rumors, Lone Star Ball and Phillies Nation
RELATED:
ESPN:
Source: All MLB spring camps to temporarily close after positive coronavirus tests — All Major League Baseball training camps will temporarily close, a source confirmed to ESPN, after multiple teams reported positive coronavirus tests Friday. — The spring training facilities in Florida …
Discussion:
Bluebird Banter, Camden Chat, AZ Snake Pit and Talking Chop
Joel Sherman / New York Post:
MLB may shut down all spring training sites for coronavirus cleaning — With three spring training sites closing Friday due to coronavirus-related issues, MLB was strongly considering shutting all 30 facilities again to cleanse them and then establish a testing protocol when players return, The Post has learned.
Discussion:
MLB Baseball News …, True Blue LA and ProFootballTalk
Wall Street Journal:
Coronavirus Surge Forces Baseball to Reconsider a ‘Bubble’ Season — The increase in cases in Florida and elsewhere is prompting officials to rethink playing all games at a secure site—adding another obstacle to its beleaguered effort to start a 2020 season
Discussion:
MLB Trade Rumors, Sports Illustrated, Orange County Register, MLB Baseball News … and CNN
Jesse Rogers / ESPN:
MLB won't counter players' latest offer; sticking to 60 games at full prorated salaries
Discussion:
New York Post
Phil Matier / San Francisco Chronicle:
With finances shaky because of pandemic, Oakland now looking to sell Coliseum site — It took a bit of debate, but the Oakland City Council has instructed staff to begin negotiations to sell the city's half of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum site to the Oakland A's.
Discussion:
Sports Illustrated and MLB Trade Rumors
Dan Bernstein Show / 670 The Score:
Cubs' Ian Happ A Big Fan Of DH In National League — “I like it for our team, and I like it for the action in the game,” Happ says. — (670 The Score) If MLB's latest return-to-play proposal or a similar form is accepted by the union in the coming days, a longtime staple of the National League will be gone.
Discussion:
Bleed Cubbie Blue and NBCSports.com
Jeff Todd / MLB Trade Rumors:
Korea's Kiwoom Heroes To Sign Addison Russell — In a surprise move, longtime Cubs infielder Addison Russell has found a landing spot in Korea's top league. He's joining the Kiwoom Heroes on a $530K contract, per Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News (via Twitter). — Once a top prospect …
Discussion:
Amazin' Avenue, Talking Chop, MLB Baseball News … and Bleed Cubbie Blue
