Rob Manfred "not confident" there will be baseball in 2020

This story has been updated with new information. 

Less than a week after telling ESPN's Karl Ravech that he thought "unequivocally we are going to play Major League Baseball this year," MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has told Mike Greenberg he is now "not confident" there will be a season.

ESPN's Jeff Passan reported on Manfred's comments Monday afternoon. The comments came as part of ESPN's "The Return of Sports" special which will air at 9 p.m. tonight. 

Manfred reportedly told Greenberg that "as long as there's no dialogue" with the players association, "that real risk is going to continue."

Additionally, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reported that the league sent a letter to players saying there would be no season in 2020 unless the players waive any legal claims against the league. That would take away the players' rights to file any grievance against the league. Some have speculated that the players could file a grievance, saying that the league did not try to play as many games as possible in 2020.

All of this is obviously be bad news for baseball fans and anyone involved in the game. The players and the league have been working on negotiations for months, but have not been able to make any progress. Most of the disagreement stems from the players thinking that a March 26th agreement guarantees them full prorated salaries, while the owners argue that without fans in the stands, they would not be able to afford that. 

So, where does this leave us?

Manfred has the power to unilaterally set a schedule for the 2020 season, but there seems to be some bad blood between the league and the union now, so it's possible that neither side will want to move forward with any type of season. 

So I guess there's nothing left to do now but wait it out, and start looking for another hobby for the summer.

Hopefully MLB can figure out how to be a competent sports league by the time the 2021 season rolls around. 

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