New York Yankees: Big week ahead for the Yankees and MLB

A big week is ahead for the Yankees and Major League Baseball.

When Major League Baseball shut down Spring Training on March 12 at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, there was a lot of uncertainty as to what the next steps would look like in having a 2020 season for the New York Yankees.

There certainly was and still is a lot of hype around the 2020 Yankees with the addition of Gerrit Cole over the winter and his nine-year, $324 million contract. However, when COVID-19 shut down operations for the safety of everyone involved, we began the waiting game. With that said, there has been dialogue over the last couple of weeks in regard to bringing baseball back safely between MLB and the Players Association.

If we are to get baseball back in some way this summer, this week could very well go a long way into determining that. In their perfect world, MLB would like to begin a shortened regular-season around July 1. For that to happen, an agreement with the Major League Baseball Players Association would almost need to be in place within the next week. An extended Spring Training would hopefully begin around mid-June giving players enough time to get their timing and conditioning back.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently said the pro sports teams are welcomed to begin opening their facilities in the hope of returning to action. That is good news for the Yankees. Major League Baseball is hoping to have teams play games once a season gets started in their own stadiums without fans.

The league and their owners have been working on and submitting plans to the MLBPA in regards to player safety and testing being available. Temperature checks, coming to the ballpark changing at home and showering at home are just some of the precautions that MLB is exploring.

Whether or not the players agree to the safety guidelines could be a moot point if they can’t come to an agreement with the owners with regards to pay. The latest proposal has the highest-paid players getting a cut in their salary, something that the players are not happy about.

Both the players and owners need to come to an agreement and do it soon to save the season. If the 2020 season is lost based on the players not wanting to play because of money, it could be ugly and very damaging to the sport. With the current Collective Bargaining Agreement set to expire in a year, this could be a black eye for baseball that could have long-lasting effects for years to come.