The upcoming Vermont Lake Monsters season is up in the air as team officials wait to hear from its major league affiliate, the Oakland A’s.
Kyle Bostwick, the team’s vice president, said via email that there was no news on the status of the team’s 2020 season amid concerns with the coronavirus.
“Because our players are on the rosters of the Major League organization, we can’t do anything without their support and they have not given us any indication of where they stand on 2020,” he said. “My guess is that this will continue to be the case until they get the MLB season resolved.”
The Lake Monsters season was set to start June 18 at Burlington’s Centennial Field.
Major League Baseball owners approved a proposal from commissioner Rob Manfred earlier this week for an early July start to an 82-game season in front of empty stadiums, with geographical schedules. The league is now in discussion with its players union about the season restart plan.
The league met with the union Tuesday and discussed safety, testing and medical guidelines for the proposed return, according to CNBC.
While the union agreed to a pro-rated pay system in March, the owners are seeking a 50-50 revenue sharing plan that would tie player pay to the league’s profits. The players have opposed similar proposals in the past.
The team’s long-term future was murky even before the pandemic, as the Lake Monsters were one of 42 teams that would lose their affiliation with Major League Baseball if an MLB plan for minor league contraction moves forward.
Under the proposal, the teams that would lose their affiliation would join a “Dream League” of undrafted and released players. But since those teams would have to pay the salaries of their players and coaches, which are currently paid for by the major league affiliate, many do not believe that model would be feasible.
The proposal, which was floated as part of negotiations over the renewal of the agreement between the MLB and MiLB, was met with widespread opposition from Minor League Baseball and state and local politicians. The Burlington city council passed a resolution in February urging MLB to drop the proposal.
Baseball America reported in late April that Minor League Baseball was preparing to agree to the MLB plan, in part due to the financial constraints due to the coronavirus. Baseball America cited multiple sources with knowledge of the negotiations.
In response to the article, Minor League Baseball released a statement calling the article “largely inaccurate.”
“There have been no agreements on contraction or any other issues,” Minor League Baseball said in the statement. “MiLB looks forward to continuing the good faith negotiations with MLB tomorrow as we work toward an agreement that best ensures the future of professional baseball throughout the United States and Canada.”
Bostwick said by email Thursday the team had not received any updates on the status of the negotiations.
An MLB spokesman emailed Thursday that the league was committed to continuing its negotiations with MiLB in good faith.
“Major League Baseball looks forward to continuing our discussions with Minor League Baseball about how we can jointly modernize player development and continue to have baseball in every community where it is currently being played – MLB’s goals since the beginning of our talks,” the statement said.
