Last night, Major League Baseball owners unanimously voted for commissioner Rob Manfred to implement the 2020 season on his (read: their) terms, as per the March agreement with the MLBPA. Today, union representatives and MLB hashed out details.
Per Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the union told the league that the players will be ready to report for “spring” training on July 1. The regular season is expected to begin around the last week of the month, perhaps July 25. The two sides have not yet finalized health and safety protocols but that isn’t believed to be a significant hurdle.
As mentioned earlier, besides the shortened season, the 2020 season will look different due to a handful of proposed rule changes. But, barring unforeseen circumstances, we will see Major League Baseball return next week and the regular season begin in roughly a month. “Spring” training will take place in the teams’ home cities after MLB shut down all of its spring training facilities last week due to a COVID-19 outbreak in Florida.