Jackie Bradley Jr., in just two sentences, spoke more truth about the 2020 season than anyone affiliated with Major League Baseball has thus far.
It is not a surprise that players are becoming increasingly concerned about the 2020 MLB season. In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreaks on the Marlins and the Cardinals, and the ongoing cancelations and postponement of games this season, it is becoming increasingly unlikely that the season will be played to completion. Nonetheless, MLB is continuing to push forward with the season, refusing to consider a shutdown as anything more than a threat.
At least, that is how Boston Red Sox outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. sees it. In fact, he has gone as far as to say that Major League Baseball does not care about what the players think at all.
Intriguing stuff from Jackie Bradley Jr.:
— Julian McWilliams (@byJulianMack) August 1, 2020
Reporter: seems like your season is going to be shutdown
Bradley: They’ll (MLB) make it last.
Reporter: do you think that’s the right thing to do?
Bradley: doesn’t matter what i think.
This was evident from the way the league conducted their negotiations to get the season started. Manfred and the league had been determined to have a 60 game season regardless of how negotiations progressed. Those talks were really nothing more than a way to see how much they could get out of the Player’s Union.
It is also evident that the players are getting frustrated. Trevor Bauer has been a vocal critic of commissioner Rob Manfred over the past few months on virtually any topic one could imagine. Andrew McCtutchen expressed his frustration with how cancelations are being handled, stating that he has to find out if a game is being played from Twitter.
Now add Bradley to that list of players getting frustrated. He, and rightly so, feels that it does not matter what the players think – the league is going to ram a season down their throats anyway. The only recourse players have is to opt-out, but in doing so, they forfeit their salaries, making that a difficult decision.
At this point, one has to wonder what it will take for the league to listen to the players regarding the season. A total of 53 games have been canceled or postponed already, and it will be virtually impossible to make those up. Players do not feel safe, but the league does not care.
Jackie Bradley Jr. is right – Major League Baseball does not care about the players or what they think. That is another strike against a commissioner who seemingly does not care about the game at all.