Jose Abreu will report late to White Sox camp because of COVID-19 protocols

Jose Abreu

The headlines around White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu today strike me as a little misleading. 

ESPN's story says, "Jose Abreu tests positive for COVID-19, but Chicago White Sox say star 1B is 'completely asymptomatic.'"

Not to pick on ESPN, because if you do a search for "Jose Abreu," there are about a dozen similar headlines out there. The problem with the headline is it leads you to believe Abreu just tested positive for the virus, when that doesn't sound like it's the case.

If you read what Sox GM Rick Hahn said about the situation, Abreu believes he had a mild case of the virus in January. Hahn noted that COVID antibody testing backed up Abreu's story. Later, James Fegan of The Athletic noted that the Sox hope Abreu will report to camp as soon as Monday.

In other words, don't believe the hype. I don't think Abreu has COVID-19, and I don't think he's in danger of infecting anyone. He just has to stay away for now because of MLB's written protocols.

Here's what I think happened: Abreu did have COVID in January -- he just didn't get tested for it at that time. The antibody test revealed there's a strong likelihood that's the case.

Testing Abreu for the virus right now is sort of pointless. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control advises against retesting within 90 days of testing positive -- because of the risk of false positives. That's why the antibody test was performed instead.

From MLB's perspective, there's no record of Abreu testing positive, which he likely would have had he been tested in January. However, there is strong evidence that he had the virus recently, so the league is treating it as a new and active case.

That means Abreu has to spend 10 days in isolation and continue to be asymptomatic during that time. If he remains asymptomatic, and he likely will, he can join the team. That 10-day process has already started, I'm sure, and that's why the Sox are able to pinpoint Monday as a probable report date for Abreu.

I'm not a medical expert, so obviously, my thoughts are not to be taken as gospel. But that's my armchair guess at what's going on here, and well, armchair guesses are what blogging is all about. I would never argue otherwise.

MLB, MLBPA disagree on whether to play 162 games in 2021

The constant labor disputes in Major League Baseball are so tiresome. I don't even have the energy to comment on this too much, but since it's the news of the day in the sport, here's a link that describes what is happening.

In a nutshell, the owners want players to be vaccinated for COVID-19 before they arrive at spring training, and as far as they're concerned, they don't care if that means backing up the start of the regular season until May.

The MLB Players Association disagrees. Players believe they've proven they can follow the protocols and play a full season -- with full pay, of course.

So, get ready for another knockdown, drag-out taffy pull between unreasonable people.

If I thought owners were legitimately trying to delay the season for health and safety reasons, I could respect that. Alas, I don't buy it. I think owners want to delay the season because they don't want to take the financial hit of more games being played without fans in the stands.

I believe we will see fans in the stands before the 2021 season comes to an end. In fact, I think we'll see it by the summer. But it won't happen in April.

Like any fan, I want 162 games. I will return to the ballpark as soon as it is allowed. Hell, I'd go to the ballpark today, if there were a game to be played. I'm hungry for baseball. I miss it as much as I do in any other offseason.

It's going to piss me off to no end if the season is delayed or shortened because of purely financial reasons.

Opening Day is July 24; let's hope this all works out

Must admit, I'm surprised the league-imposed 2020 Major League Baseball schedule is going to be 60 games. I figured the owners would want a 48- or 52-game schedule, but I suppose by playing 60, they increase their chances of winning in court when the MLBPA inevitably files a grievance arguing that owners didn't bargain in good faith.

Anyway ... the latest news ... the union informed the league Tuesday that it will comply with the imposed outline for the 2020 season. Players will report to spring, err.., summer training on July 1, and the season is expected to begin July 24.

The two sides still are working to finalize health and safety protocols. The league is expected to conclude its regular season Sept. 27 -- for those scoring at home, that means 60 games in 66 days. The usual 10-team playoff format applies, and that should be over by the end of October.

If the league and the players can avoid having this whole thing shut down by stupid COVID-19. Let's hope the infections are kept to a minimum, and that we can have baseball. Well, hopefully, there are no infections, but I'm not sure how realistic that is.

MLBPA votes down 60-game proposal

The MLB Players Association voted, 33-5, on Monday to reject Major League Baseball's proposal to start the 2020 season, sources say.

The vote was conducted by the union's eight-member executive committee, plus one player representative per team.

The proposal called for:

• a 60-game season
• a 16-team expanded playoff
• prorated pay for players
• no additional salary guarantees should the season be canceled because of COVID-19
• the union to waive its right to file a grievance claiming the owners did not negotiate in good faith

The guess here is that fifth and final statement was the sticking point.

Where do we go from here? Well, we wait for MLB commissioner Rob Manfred to tell the players "when and where" the 2020 season will begin, if it begins at all.

I think there are three ways this could go. MLB could cancel the season, fearing that COVID-19 could torpedo the playoffs in October, thus cutting off a large source of revenue that owners are counting on.

Or, Manfred could call for a season of 48 games, get the regular season over as quickly as possible, and hope for the best with the usual 10-team playoff.

Or, owners could be altruistic, have Manfred mandate a 60-game season and hope the playoffs get completed.

As a baseball fan, I hope the last option will happen, but rationally, I know better. We are looking squarely at one of the first two options I mentioned.

A 75% yes vote would be required to pass any plan Manfred chooses to implement. If eight owners vote to cancel the season, there will be no season.

MLB's latest proposal for a 76-game season doesn't help matters

Reports that MLB would not offer another proposal for resuming play apparently were false, as the league apparently sent the players association a new proposal on Monday.

Too bad it isn't going to bring us much closer to starting the 2020 season.

Here are the particulars:

• There would be a 76-game regular season, ending Sept. 27. Playoffs would conclude at the end of October, as per usual.
• Players would only be guaranteed 50% of their already prorated salaries for the regular season. If the postseason is completed without a "second wave" of COVID-19 in the fall, players would receive up to 75% of their prorated salaries.
• Draft pick compensation would be removed for the upcoming free agent class. In other words, if you sign a free agent next offseason, you don't have to forfeit a draft pick to the team that you signed the player away from. In the past, this rule has been cited as a reason why teams shy away from signing veteran free agents.

This deal is not going to interest the union, and here's why: Even if the postseason goes off without a hitch and this plan is seen through to its entirety, players would receive only 35 percent of their usual salaries.

By way of comparison, if commissioner Rob Manfred unilaterally imposed a 50-game season with players receiving prorated salaries -- which Manfred is allowed to do according to a deal agreed upon in March -- players would receive only 31 percent of their usual salaries.

If you're a player, do you want to play 26 more games -- and risk your health 26 more times -- for such a small increase in pay? I'm guessing not.

The owners' first proposal included 82 games and a "sliding scale" of salaries, and the players' cut in this 76-game proposal is only percentage points higher.

In other words, the owners are basically proposing the same thing over and over again: 82 games, 50 games, 76 games, it doesn't matter. All of these proposals have the players receiving roughly the same amount of salary.

The owners want the public to believe they've moved, going from 50 games to 76, but in the players' eyes, they haven't really moved at all.

It's still hard to be optimistic that we'll see baseball this summer, even with the country crying out for entertainment and some normalcy.

Why 'safety' won't determine when I return to the ballpark

If the 2020 baseball season is played, we know it likely will be played without fans. Even if the White Sox are allowed into Guaranteed Rate Field this year, you and I and other common folks probably will not be.

But what about 2021? As a season-ticket holder, I routinely receive surveys from the Sox. The most recent one covered a wide variety of topics, but the most interesting question addressed what fan attitudes will be like in the post-pandemic world. Or, maybe it seeks to find out what fan attitudes will be like in a post-COVID-19, pre-vaccine world.

I was asked to rate on a scale of 1 to 5 how safe I would feel about returning to Guaranteed Rate Field to watch a ballgame -- with 1 being "not safe at all" and 5 being "very safe."

I chose 5.

If baseball opened its gates tomorrow, with normal day-of-game rules in place, I would be fine going to a game. We all know that's not going to happen, but clearly, we're dealing with a hypothetical situation here anyway.

The Sox allow you to offer comments when you fill out these surveys, and I took the opportunity to explain to them that "safety" will be irrelevant when it comes to my decision on when to return to the ballpark.

I explained that I simply am not willing to come to a game if I'm going to be forced to practice social distancing. What fun is it to sit three or four chairs away from your friends? And, if you think I'm sitting there wearing a mask for three and a half or four straight hours, you can forget it. Restrictions on concessions and restroom use? No thank you. Nope. Sorry, no sale, not coming.

You see, I'm not going to pay my hard-earned money to come to the game if I'm going to have some off-duty cop barking orders at me about where to sit, where to stand and what to wear. That's not my idea of a good time.

I understand that the Sox may have no choice but to impose rules such as that, either at the direction of the government or league officials, but if that's the case, I will simply exercise my right to stay home.

The moral of this story is I'm not interested in anyone's Third World, totalitarian experience, with government-imposed crackdowns and some idiot governor who thinks he's king deciding what is best for me and my family.

I'll come back to the ballpark when it gets back to being the fun experience I've always known and enjoyed since I was a child. That has little to do with safety. It's about entertainment and value for my money, plain and simple.

MLB owners OK plan that could start 2020 season in July

Major League Baseball owners on Monday approved a plan that would allow for the 2020 season to start Fourth of July weekend -- without fans. Negotiations with the Major League Baseball Players Association will reportedly begin Tuesday.

The guess here is this will all fall apart because of a dispute between owners and the players' union about money -- this is ridiculous and petty, given that millions of Americans are out of work during the COVID-19 pandemic -- but more on that later.

Here are the nuts and bolts of the plan:

1. Each team would play 82 games against clubs within their own division, plus nearby teams from the opposite league.

2. Fourteen clubs would make the playoffs instead of 10 -- three division champions and four wild-card teams from each league.

3. Teams would play at their own ballparks, unless not allowed for medical or political reasons. Backup locations would be spring training sites. In other words, I hope the White Sox like Glendale, Ariz.

4. A universal DH is likely.

5. Rosters would expand from 26 to 30 players. Expect teams to carry extra pitchers, since the long layoff is harder on arms than it is on position players.

6. The All-Star Game, scheduled to be in Los Angeles this year, will not be played.

Spring training could resume in mid-June, if the owners and players can come to an agreement on what to do about salaries -- and given the first-rate jerks involved in these negotiations, I'm not counting on it.

In March, the players agreed to take a prorated portion of their salaries for the 2020 season, and union chief Tony Clark says that negotiation is over.

Owners, however, want players to get a 50-50 split of revenues during the regular season and postseason. Why? Well, without fans, revenues will be down, and owners want the players to help absorb some of that hit.

The players' union considers this to be tantamount to a salary cap, and frankly, there's no way in hell they are going to agree to that.

So, billionaires will be fighting with millionaires over large sums of money, as everyday people in America are trying to hang on with the economy in the toilet while enduring a once-in-a-century health crisis.

Aren't the optics great on that?

It's too bad because baseball has a great opportunity here. ... Most of us are going to be stuck at home -- notice I said stuck at home, not safe at home -- for the foreseeable future, and we would love some live sports to help us through. There's no question ratings will be up if a baseball season is played. What else do we have to do besides watch?

Now, that said, if the season gets torpedoed because the players have health concerns, I totally understand. I may not like it, I may be sad, but I'll understand. You can't really criticize someone, or a group of people, if they say, "I'm not doing this because it is a risk to my health."

However, if the season is not played because of disputes about money, all you can really do is shake your head.