Wire Taps: MLB to impose 60-game 2020 season; after MLBPA votes against latest proposal + Washington Nationals news...

Nope, MLB. You’re still not getting me to write a separate article about imposing a 60-game season if the players both agree to report by July 1st and, as Major League Baseball wrote in a press release, agree to the “Operating Manual which contains health and safety protocols necessary to give us the best opportunity to conduct and complete our regular season and Postseason.”

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred was granted the ability to impose a season in the deal that both sides agreed on back in March, when the coronavirus pandemic led to the start of the 2020 campaign being postponed. So when the MLBPA voted 33-5 against the league’s last proposal - which was for a 60-game season with a universal DH in ‘20-21; guaranteed $25M in playoff pools in 2020; “$33M in forgiven salary advances salary advances which would increase the take-home pay of 61% of major league players,” as MLB noted (divisively?); overall earnings for players of 104% of prorated salaries; and a promise from MLB to remove the expanded postseason plans in 2021, “in order to address player concerns,” as MLB’s release read.

So, instead, it will reportedly be a 60-game 2020 campaign, provided, as noted above, that the players agree to report by July 1, with the regular season between late-July and late-September and a standard postseason format in October, and a universal DH in 2020 only,” as MASN’s Mark Zuckerman noted in a post-vote update on where things stand tonight.

All this, of course, is contingent upon a plan which allows baseball to get started amid the ongoing COVID-19/the coronavirus pandemic, which, if you’ve been following the news, is still around, and still spreading in hot spots around the country.

MLB wants an answer by Tuesday on whether or not the players will report by 7/1 and agree to the health protocols which could potentially allow this all to happen. That’s it. You’re now updated.

Go read your links...

NATS BEAT:

Straight Nats:

Jackson Rutledge talks minor league baseball on pause and working out in basement - (Washington Times)
"Just a year after the Washington Nationals selected him in the first round of the MLB draft at No. 17 overall, Rutledge has ascended to become the top-ranked pitching prospect in the team’s farm system, according to MLB Pipeline."

What’s next: Looking at Max Scherzer’s contract - (NBC Sports Washington)
"There is no baseball, no stomping around the mound, no sneers, fastballs or swear words for approaching managers."

Whenever baseball resumes, it won't look or sound normal - (MASN)
"Why do you think they get so excited when a game sells out, or when they’re playing in a particular road venue known for boisterous fan bases?"

Denard Span on Nationals' World Series victory: 'They were destined to win' - (NBC Sports Washington)
“'You could just tell that it was their year,' Span said."

Span on time in D.C.: "I had a lot of fun there" - (MASN)
“'My three years in D.C. were probably the best three years of my career and my life,' Span said."

MLB 2020:

Getting closer to a return? What's changed for MLB, MLBPA negotiations - (NBC Sports Washington)
"Reality has stopped by to chat with Major League Baseball and its players’ union."

MLB players reject 60-game proposal, likely leading to shorter season enforced by Manfred - (Washington Times)
"The Major League Baseball Players Association voted against the league’s latest proposal of a 60-game season at full pro rata salary by a vote of 33 to 5, ESPN reported Monday."

NATIONAL(S) BEAT:

Riesel, UMHB grad signs with Washington Nationals - (kcentv.com)
"UMHB infielder Landon Dieterich signed a free-agent contract Monday to play for the Washington Nationals' system."

What every MLB team's baseball stadium used to look like - (Insider)
"Nationals Park has a slightly unconventional design compared to other traditional ballparks. It is sleek and modern, mostly made of glass and steel."

MLB hitters who are missing their age-27 peak season in 2020 - (ESPN)
"Trea Turner, Washington Nationals: He has averaged 3.5 WAR in his four seasons, but seemed poised to have his first All-Star season after hitting .304 with 12 home runs in the second half of 2019 (after missing time in the first half with an injury)."

NL EAST UPDATES:

Is Mets' Jeff McNeil the best hitter in the NL East? - (SNY)
"Jeff McNeil amassed 162 hits in 510 at-bats last season, good for a .318 average over 133 games. It was proof that his 63 games in 2018 were no fluke..."

Bryce Harper, wife Kayla expecting baby girl - (MLB.com)
"The Harper family is about to grow a little bigger."

Projecting all 2021 Marlins minor league starting rotations - (Fish Stripes)
"Let’s try to project the Marlins rotation at every level of their farm starting in April."

Tim Kurkjian's Baseball Fix - Why it matters that Bobby Cox wore metal spikes his entire managerial career - (ESPN)
"'Bobby is the greatest manager ever to put on a uniform,' ex-Braves pitcher Tim Hudson said."