If you ask him, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred will tell you that the meeting he had in Arizona Tuesday with the head of the MLB Players Association (MLBPA), Tony Clark, was “productive.” If you hit Clark with the same question, you might get a completely different answer. MLB team owners and players have been battling for two months as they try to figure out how to get players back on the field, and they’re no closer to a resolution now than they were then. Manfred invited Clark to a sit-down yesterday to try to hash out an amicable, mutually-beneficial plan of attack, but no one should expect a miracle.

Manfred issued a statement yesterday, explaining, “At my request, Tony Clark and I met for several hours yesterday in Phoenix. We left that meeting with a jointly developed framework that we agreed could form the basis of an agreement and subject to conversations with our respective constituents. I summarized that framework numerous times in the meeting and sent Tony a written summary today. Consistent with our conversations yesterday, I am encouraging the Clubs to move forward and I trust Tony is doing the same.”

Rumors of the success of the meeting had begun to circulate before Manfred published his comments. The MLBPA got wind of them and wanted to cut them off at the knees. It tweeted ahead of Manfred’s statement, “Reports of an agreement are false.”

As before in the ongoing negotiations, both sides are standing their ground, unwilling to make any type of major concession. Owners want players to agree to salary cuts of as much as 80% for some players, and players want owners to get stuffed. Manfred said after Tuesday’s meeting that he was happy with the outcome and that a proposal would be coming. Clark, on the other hand, said that there were “significant issues” with Manfred’s recommendations and that no tentative agreement had been reached. 

MLB was thrown a curveball when the coronavirus forced the professional baseball league to call off the 2020 season just ahead of its big Opening Day this past March. Since then, team owners and players have been caught up in a virtual tennis match to get the season restarted, lobbing plans back and forth that neither side wants to approve. While they continue to battle it out, potentially closing in on an amicable, acceptable plan, the MLB Draft is taking place. However, it isn’t anywhere close to where it should have been and only five rounds – out of the normal 40 – are being held. Next season, only 20 rounds will be held.

The reduction in rounds means that a lot of aspiring professional baseball players won’t get their chance anytime soon. It’s safe to say that even those who have been selected may not get their chance if team owners and players can’t reach an agreement. This means that players like third baseman Spencer Torkelson out of Arizona State and outfielder Heston Kjerstad out of Arkansas can only wait around to see what happens. Torkelson was picked up as the first pick in the draft and is going to the Detroit Tigers, while Kjerstad, who wasn’t a top favorite for the draft, is on his way to the Baltimore Orioles. Shortstop Austin Martin from Vanderbilt had been highly considered to be the second pick in the draft, but ended up going to the Toronto Blue Jays as the fifth selection.

Now, the new selections and existing players can only wait to see what happens next. There exists a possibility that a deal to resume games could be reached before the end of this weekend, but anything is possible. According to Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports and his own Live on The Herd radio broadcast, “I was told last night by a source that I trust inside baseball that they’re close. My prediction is that the MLS will start July 8th, and that baseball will start July 10th. I’m going to make a prediction that in 48 hours – this is from a source up the ladder – that we will have a resolution and be on our way. I’m going all in on this, there will be around 75-80 games. The owners want to wrap up the regular season by September 27th, and they do not want to play in November. The owners have no interest, and are worried about a second wave of the virus. Frankly, they don’t want to play in crappy weather either… By 10:35 PT on Saturday, we will have a deal done.”

However, there is still a lot that needs to be done. Should the two sides fail to reach an agreement, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has the authority to establish how many games would be played to allow the 2020 season to run its course. If it comes to that, a number of players have already stated that they are prepared to boycott and will sit the season out. Even league executives aren’t entirely optimistic, with one telling USA TODAY Sports, “If we don’t get an agreement real soon, this is going to be ugly. Real ugly. And it’s just going to get worse.’’

Reports started to surface yesterday, reportedly from baseball insiders, that MLB might start Spring Training 2 sometime next month. One story was presented that had training reactivating on June 10, with Opening Day being held on July 1. However, this is apparently not the case, and there is not yet any definitive timeframe to get baseball players back on the field.

Trevor Plouffe tweeted this past Monday, “… I just heard from multiple sources that on June 10th, Spring Training 2 will start. July 1st will be Opening Day and all teams will be playing at their home ballparks…” It would circulate for about a day before being debunked by Jon Heyman, who said that league sources were still busy talking to health officials and politicians, and that no date had yet been established.

That resonates with statements coming out of the MLB Player’s Association. The group’s boss, Tony Clark, explained to ESPN that players definitely want to play, but only once it is considered safe enough for players, staff and everyone else to share close quarters and spaces with others. He added that the league hadn’t shared any plans with the union, stating, “Despite all that has been floated and all the rhetoric that is out there, we have not received anything formal that details an actual plan.”

The first step to seeing baseball again is to ensure that there won’t be any health risks associated with the games. This could mean reducing the number of fields where games are played, as well as changing salaries because of a potentially shorter season. These issues, and others, have to be worked out before any concrete plan can be put on the table. Clark adds, “As these ideas find their way into mainstream media, there are some ideas that seem to make sense, there are others that don’t track very well. All of them are being viewed against the backdrop of getting back on the field and affording our guys an opportunity to do what they love to do. At this point, it’s unfortunate that there are things that keep finding their way into the conversation and are being represented as proposals when they aren’t.”

Just as Major League Baseball (MLB) was preparing for Opening Day, along came the coronavirus, preventing the league from even entering the batter’s box. That was almost two months ago, and there is still no clear picture about when, and if, the 2020 season will be allowed to resume. Ideas on resuming play, such as holding all games in Phoenix, Arizona, have been floated, but the odds of that happening are about as good as Hillary Clinton winning this year’s presidential election (since she’s not even a candidate, the result should be clear). Still, MLB was willing to recognize the efforts being made by its employees across the country to keep the league ready for action, and agreed to cover certain salaries for a while. However, all good things must come to an end, and MLB brass is giving teams permission to make cuts where necessary – players excluded.

About a week ago, MLB announced that it would pay its employees through the end of May and that the top league officials were going to reduce their pay by an average of 35%. It also said that players would be eligible to receive some type of compensation from a $170-million fund that was being created. As of today, though, teams could have the green light from MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred to temporarily lay off employees or reduce their salaries if they feel it’s necessary. The only exemption, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic points out, is that players cannot be touched.

Nothing would be better than to see all sports leagues back in action. Ideas of games in different sports beginning in May or June are still being discussed, but nothing definite has been, or will be, decided quickly. According to Stephanie Apstein of Sports Illustrated, “[According] to the experts—medical experts, not the money-making experts in league offices—we will not have sports any time soon.”

Still, others in the medical community believe that something could happen soon. Most notably, the top coronavirus fighter in the U.S., Dr. Anthony Fauci, said last week, “There’s a way [for players to play]. Put them in big hotels wherever you want to play. Keep them very well surveilled and name me a surveillance. But have them tested, like every week and make sure they don’t wind up infecting each other or their family. And just let them play the season out. People say, ‘Well, you can’t play without spectators. Well, I think you’d probably get enough buy-in from people who are dying to see a baseball game, particularly me. I’m living in Washington. We have the world champion Washington Nationals. I want to see them play again.”

Last year, the New York Mets’ Pete Alonso led the major leagues with a franchise-record 53 home runs, also an MLB record for a rookie. Alonso is +1000 to repeat as the home run king at sportsbooks, although it’s likely no player will be hitting 50 home runs again in 2020 because there isn’t going to be anywhere near 162 games due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Alonso, incidentally, also won the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game last year. The 2016 second-round pick out of the University of Florida wasn’t even a lock to make the Opening Day roster out of spring training. Alonso was the first rookie to lead the majors in home runs since Mark McGwire tied for the lead with 49 in his 1987 campaign.

Those 49 home runs had been the MLB rookie record until the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge hit 52 in 2017 to lead the American League. He’s +1400 on this prop but has had trouble staying healthy since then. Teammate Giancarlo Stanton, who hit 59 home runs three years ago to lead the majors, is +2000 but also has some issues staying healthy.

No sports league would have ever been willing to call off a season for virtually any reason. To do so would be to shoot itself in the foot and lead to billions of dollars in lost revenue. However, the coronavirus is proving to be a beast of an enemy, and all sports leagues have found themselves doing the unimaginable. With a lot of uncertainty still surrounding the possibility of getting things back to normal, sports fans can only sit back and wait. Today should have been an epic day for baseball fans, as it was supposed to mark MLB’s Opening Day. COVID-19 squashed those plans, but the league has figured out an alternative that it hopes will be received well by fans. Welcome the first-ever MLB Opening Day at Home.

Starting at 8:30 AM Eastern Time (ET) today, MLB will be providing reruns of baseball games for each of the 30 teams in the league. The games are available on MLB.com and the league’s social media channels, and MLB explains on its website, “All games will be streamed on MLB.com, as well as through one of MLB’s social media channels, on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube, and by using the hashtag #OpeningDayAtHome, fans can connect with each other while watching their team’s selected game at a set time. In addition, on MLB Network, you can watch classic Opening Day games all day, beginning at 1 p.m. ET with Derek Jeter’s first Opening Day in 1996, and ending at midnight with Tuffy Rhodes’ unforgettable three-homer day for the Cubs against Doc Gooden and the Mets in 1994. Meanwhile, ESPN2 will air a Home Run Derby marathon beginning at 6 p.m. ET, starting with Pete Alonso’s 2019 triumph, followed by the derbies from 2018, ’17 and ’15.”

It probably would have been better kept a secret, but MLB already let the cat out of the bag. Each game is designed to showcase a team; therefore, the game will obviously be one that has that team as the winner. Still, it will be a great opportunity to catch up on highlights and see some incredible plays while stuck at home with nothing else but afternoon soap operas and talk shows on TV.

MLB is also taking advantage of the opportunity to try to source funds for several charities that are supporting coronavirus victims. The league, along with the MLB Players Association, has already donated $1 million to Meals on Wheels and Feeding America, and will contribute $30 million to different ball clubs so they can pay their employees. During today’s game schedule, MLB will be promoting the charities, as well as others, in an effort to find additional contributions.

Today is March 26, and you know what that means, right? It’s the start of the MLB season! All 30 teams should be taking the field to play America’s favorite pastime.

But they won’t be.

Major League Baseball is doing everything it can to keep baseball starved fans entertained on March 26, airing classic baseball games for all 30 clubs, and making the 2018 and 2019 seasons free on MLB TV.

But that’s not much help for sports books. We all know how these games ends, and it offers nothing to gamblers and baseball fans who want something fresh. For all of us hoping for some promise of normalcy in the near future, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred joined Scott Van Pelt on ESPN: