Representatives from the Major League Baseball Players Association spoke with White House officials Thursday morning about the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic amid ongoing discussions about the health and safety protocols for the start of spring training and the regular season.
A players association spokesman told ESPN that the conversation was “helpful and informative.”
The call took place one day after The Athletic reported that the union opted out of another call last week that included officials from both MLB and the White House. According to The Athletic report, the union believed that government officials would pressure both MLB and the players to delay the upcoming season.
The Athletic report has been criticized on social media by Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood and former major league pitcher Tom Koehler, who now works as an agent.
Earlier this week, the union rejected MLB’s proposal to delay the start of spring training to March 22 and the start of the regular season to April 28, with a 154-game season playing out into October and the postseason carrying over into November.
The MLB proposal also included expanded playoffs, a topic which presumably will be revisited by the two sides in the weeks ahead. The union’s contention has been that it does not want to swap the implementation of the universal designated hitter for the expanded playoffs, in the belief that the universal DH is something that is desired by the teams, as well as the players.
On the eve of last summer’s 60-game season, an agreement was forged rapidly in the last hours before the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals played the season opener.
As it stands, MLB and the players are preparing to start spring training on time in less than two weeks, with club officials waiting for the final agreement on the health and safety protocol.