Report: Schedule mandated by MLB commissioner would be at least 50 games

There is likely going to be a Major League Baseball season in 2020 with or without an agreement between the league and the MLB Players Association, and it will be up to commissioner Rob Manfred to decide how many games. MLB has been pushing for as few as 48 games in negotiations with players, but it sounds like the season is going to be longer than that.

If no agreement is reached, Jon Heyman reports that commissioner Rob Manfred will mandate a regular season that is at least 50 games.

Mildly positive baseball news (very mild): If a season is mandated by the commissioner (as allowed by the March 26 agreement), it wouldn’t be for just 48 games. I hear the number of games would start with a 5

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) June 14, 2020

The MLB and MLBPA agreed on March 26 to play a shortened season, with players receiving pro-rated salaries for the number of games that are played. However, team owners later walked that back and have been trying to pay players no more than 80 percent of their usual salaries for any games that are played, citing revenue losses from restrictions that will prevent fans from attending games.

The March 26 agreement gave Manfred the power to launch a season even without a further agreement between the MLB and MLBPA, though players could choose not to show up. Given how ugly things have gotten between the two sides, that outcome would be surprising but cannot be ruled out.