While other pro sports leagues spent May and June forming concrete plans to get back to work, the baseball owners and players exchanged a series of non-starter, repackaged and unrealistic (under the current circumstances) proposals that have not brought them any closer to returning.
The caveat is that Rob Manfred has the power to impose a schedule that the players must show up for. That is why he was able to make this statement on Wednesday.
Under the two side’s March agreement, the commissioner has the power to mandate any schedule the owners choose and the players must show up — as long as they receive full prorated salary.