Cincinnati Reds

The first day of Cincinnati Reds summer camp provided Trevor Bauer with a new outlet to take another swipe at the Houston Astros.

Bauer posted on Twitter a picture of himself wearing a "TrasH-Town" T-shirt:

Baseball is back everyone!! Intake testing done, lots of really high tech stuff goin on here but anything to help us win is in, right?! pic.twitter.com/9smfaui36r

— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) July 3, 2020

Since Major League Baseball determined the Astros cheated during their 2017 championship season and part of the 2018 season, Bauer hasn't missed an opportunity to insult them.

"I'm not going to let them forget the fact that they are hypocrites, they are cheaters, they've stolen from a lot of other people and the game itself," Bauer told reporters at the start of spring training in February.

The rivalry between Bauer and the Astros dates back to at least 2018, when the right-hander implied their pitchers were using illegal means to increase their spin rates.

Since teams will only play opponents within their division and the corresponding geographical division in the other league in 2020, Bauer's Reds won't face the Astros unless the two clubs reach the World Series.

The University of Cincinnati has announced Marge Schott's name has been removed from its baseball stadium. 

After the school's board of trustees unanimously voted for the change, Cincinnati President Neville G. Pinto issued a statement about the decision:

"Marge Schott’s record of racism and bigotry stands at stark odds with our University’s core commitment to dignity, equity and inclusion. My recommendation to the board to remove her name is grounded in the firm belief that speaking out against exclusion is as essential as speaking up for inclusion. I hope this action serves as an enduring reminder that we cannot remain silent or indifferent when it comes to prejudice, hate or inequity. More than ever, our world needs us to convert our values into real and lasting action.”

Schott was a controversial figure during her tenure as majority owner of the Cincinnati Reds from 1984-99. Major League Baseball banned her from Riverfront Stadium and running day-to-day operations with the organization in 1996 after she publicly praised Adolf Hitler. 

Schott also admitted to keeping a swastika armband in her house that she said was given to her by someone who worked for her. 

In a deposition taken stemming from a 1991 lawsuit filed against her by former Reds employee Tim Sabo, Schott acknowledged using racial slurs and making antisemitic comments as "joke terms." MLB banned her for the 1993 season and fined her $25,000 as a result of those comments. 

The University of Cincinnati named its baseball stadium "Marge Schott Stadium" in 2006 after her charitable foundation made a $2 million donation to the school's athletic department. 

Schott was born in Cincinnati and lived in the city all her life until she died at the age of 75 in 2004. 

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer is tired of the back-and-forth between Major League Baseball owners and players as they continuously fail to reach an agreement for a 2020 season with the COVID-19 pandemic looming as a backdrop to negotiations. 

Bauer suggested continuing down this path is "absolute death for this industry" and marveled at the ability for the sport to somehow make the COVID-19 situation even worse.

It’s absolute death for this industry to keep acting as it has been. Both sides. We’re driving the bus straight off a cliff. How is this good for anyone involved? Covid 19 already presented a lose lose lose situation and we’ve somehow found a way to make it worse. Incredible. 🤦🏻‍♂️

— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) June 22, 2020

He also suggested the extensive negotiations and impasses have done "irreparable damage" to the sport and said the two sides would be better off in an extended fight following the 2021 season when there will be a new collective bargaining agreement that lasts for five years.

If there’s going to be a fight the time for that fight is after the ‘21 season when a new CBA is negotiated. 5 years of potential change. We’re doing irreparable damage to our industry right now over rules that last AT MOST 16 months. WTF kind of sense does that make? 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) June 22, 2020

Bauer's comments come after the MLB Players Association's executive board voted to reject the league's latest proposal that called for a 60-game season. ESPN's Jesse Rogers and Jeff Passan reported the board voted against it with a tally of 33-5.

Rogers previously reported commissioner Rob Manfred sent MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark an email saying if the players agreed to a season and it was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, he would cancel the expanded playoffs and universal designated hitter for the 2021 campaign the owners were pushing for in negotiations.

The COVID-19 pandemic impacting the season if the two sides ever do reach an agreement is a legitimate possibility, as Rogers noted every training camp in the league was shut down following positive tests around baseball on Friday.

One MLB official told ESPN's T.J. Quinn the pandemic is a "much bigger threat" to baseball's return than the stalled labor negotiations.

Bauer's frustration comes with all of these factors in play, and Manfred may now unilaterally implement a shortened season using his ability to do so based on the initial March agreement.

ESPN's Buster Olney suggested that could trigger a number of dominoes: 

And the dominoes are now likely set to tumble:
1. Implementation of a short season by MLB
2. Some players choosing not to play.
3. PA grievance
4. Upcoming free agents get destroyed in market
5. All major labor issues merely deferred to next spring.
Mutually assured destruction.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) June 22, 2020

However, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported Manfred does not plan on doing so Monday or Tuesday.

In a series of tweets, Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer challenged MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred's motivation for saying he is not sure if there will be a baseball season this year.

Bauer questioned why Manfred reversed course so quickly Monday after the commissioner said last week he thinks there will be a season, and the pitcher suggested Manfred made his latest comments as a delay tactic so he will not get as much public blowback for implementing a severely shortened campaign:

isn’t it Rob? Because then you’d have to explain why you’re only going to impose 50 games when we could easily play 70+ right now. The tactic is to bluff with “no season” again and delay another 2-3 weeks until you clear the risk of “not negotiating in good faith by trying to

— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) June 15, 2020

obvious to everyone what you were trying to do. And no one would think that was a “representative season” so you’d risk not getting your precious playoff money. Nope, can’t have that. So gotta make it more than that. But not too many...you’ve gone as high as about 55 games full

— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) June 15, 2020

Be at least 4 off days in there...so that’s 64 days. Plus about 20 for spring training...84 days. Sept 27-84 days is July 5. Plus about a week to get players to spring training. So tack on another 7, that takes us to June 28. As I have it figured, that’s your deadline. But today

— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) June 15, 2020

You’re holding a losing hand. Unfortunately, it’s a losing hand for everyone involved, not just you. There’s some saying out there about not killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. Check it out on the ole google machine. It’s worth knowing.

— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) June 15, 2020

Bauer's tweets come after ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Manfred told colleague Mike Greenberg he is not sure if there will be a season during the network's "The Return of Sports" special. "I'm not confident," Manfred said. "I think there's real risk; and as long as there's no dialogue, that real risk is gonna continue."

Passan noted the comments contradicted those Manfred made last week when he said "unequivocally we are going to play Major League Baseball this year."

Bauer was not the only member of the Reds to react, as pitcher Amir Garrett said players just want a decision:

Well could someone make a decision? We all know what they are doing. Just make a decision.l already stop wasting time.. https://t.co/cZUAX1Tp27

— CountOnAG (@Amir_Garrett) June 15, 2020

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reported the league sent the players union a letter saying the only way there will be a season is if players waive any potential legal claims against MLB. San Diego Padres outfielder Tommy Pham responded "no baseball" when presented with such an idea.

Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer also criticized Manfred:

Rob Manfred and the owners are walking back on their word...AGAIN. The fans do not deserve this. So I’ll say it one more time, tell us when and where.

— Max Scherzer (@Max_Scherzer) June 16, 2020

This is not the first time Bauer has spoken up about the continued negotiations between the sides as they look to restart a season that has been suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In May, Bauer appeared on CBS' Tiki and Tierney (h/t Michael Blinn of the New York Post) and said the negotiations should not have been made public. 

"The players have been more than willing to compromise," Bauer said. "We've already agreed to take pay cuts at a prorated amount. We all want to be on the field and provide entertainment for the fans, but at the same time, it has to be done in good faith. We have to be treated fairly for the jobs we do and the risks we're taking."

Manfred's comments come after the players union rejected the league's latest proposal.

Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Tony Clark released a statement Saturday that said, in part: "It unfortunately appears that further dialogue with the league would be futile. It's time to get back to work. Tell us when and where."

As part of the initial agreement between the sides, Manfred can impose a dramatically shortened season that would pay the players full prorated salaries but give the postseason money to the owners.

Owners have moved away from the full prorated salaries in later proposals, which has led to constant rejection from the players' side. 

All of this comes with the backdrop of an April report from Forbes that revealed the average baseball team is worth about four times what it was a decade ago.

Cincinnati Reds star Joey Votto penned an op-ed in the Cincinnati Enquirer on Sunday unpacking his feelings about the killing of George Floyd and the recent demonstrations across the country.

Votto opened the piece by saying he received a text from an African American teammate who told him to watch the video of Floyd's killing.

"My instincts provoked an instantaneous defense of the officer," Votto wrote. "Perhaps the man was resisting arrest? Maybe there is a story the video isn't telling?"

The six-time All-Star said he watched the video one day after the text exchange with his teammate and "wept" upon watching Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneel on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes. More than that, he came to understand how his race left him insulated from the scope of racial injustice:

"But I hear you now, and so that desire for normalcy is a privilege by which I can no longer abide. That privilege kept me from understanding the 'why' behind Colin Kaepernick's decision to kneel during the national anthem. That privilege allowed me to ignore my black teammates' grievances about their experiences with law enforcement, being profiled, and discriminated against. And that privilege has made me complicit in the death of George Floyd, as well as the many other injustices that blacks experience in the U.S. and my native Canada."

Kaepernick started protesting during the anthem in the 2016 NFL season, explaining at the time he felt the flag came to represent a United States "that oppresses black people and people of color."

Although Kaepernick hasn't played since 2016, the movement to which he contributed has carried on, and the focus has turned toward the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback again in the wake of Floyd's killing.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell issued a statement Friday saying the league made a mistake in not listening to players who engaged in social activism earlier:

We, the NFL, condemn racism and the systematic oppression of Black People. We, the NFL, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest. We, the NFL, believe Black Lives Matter. #InspireChange pic.twitter.com/ENWQP8A0sv

— NFL (@NFL) June 5, 2020

The four officers involved in Floyd's arrest were fired from their jobs with the Minneapolis Police Department, and prosecutors charged Chauvin with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison subsequently charged Chauvin with second-degree murder and the other three officers, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao, with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer ripped into Scott Boras on Wednesday, calling the agent out over rumors he is meddling in MLBPA negotiations with Major League Baseball. 

"Hearing a LOT of rumors about a certain player agent meddling in MLBPA affairs. If true — and at this point, these are only rumors — I have one thing to say... Scott Boras, rep your clients however you want to, but keep your damn personal agenda out of union business," Bauer tweeted.

Bauer then followed up, specifically mentioning Boras Corp., which is the most powerful sports agency in MLB.

It's unclear whether Boras has been involved in talks. However, Boras does represent many of the highest-paid players in baseball, who would be disproportionately affected by salary proposals made by MLB to combat a loss of revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The latest MLB proposal, obtained by ESPN's Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers and Jesse Rogers, calls for the following cuts for each tiered dollar amount:

• $563,501 to $1 million is paid 72.5 percent of their prorated salary.

• $1,000,001 to $5 million is paid 50 percent of their prorated salary.

• $5,000,001 to $10 million is paid 40 percent of their prorated salary.

• $10,000,001 to $20 million is paid at 30 percent of their prorated salary.

• $20,000,001-plus is paid at 20 percent of their prorated salary.

The MLBPA has understandably bristled at this proposal. Many players feel they should be paid their full prorated salary, as agreed to in March. The owners contend that agreement was contingent on fans being in the stands, but MLB is planning to move forward with the 2020 season without fans.

Passan and Rogers reported the players are expected to make a counter-proposal. However, the sides are far apart, and it's possible (if not likely) some agents are advising their clients on how to feel about the proposal.

For instance, Boras negotiated a nine-year, $324 million contract for Gerrit Cole over the winter. Cole would make less than $6 million of his $36 million base salary under MLB's proposal. Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Blake Snell, who recently hired Boras as his new agent, has said he does not plan to play if MLB further cuts his salary.

"You all gotta understand. 'Cause you all are going to be like, 'Blake, play for the love of the game—what's wrong with you? The money should not be a thing.' Bro. I am risking my life," Snell said earlier this month on a Twitch broadcast. 

"And then be on lockdown, not around my family, not around the people I love, and getting paid way the hell less," he continued. "And then the risk of injury runs every time I step on the field. So it's just, just not worth it. It's not. I love baseball to death, it's just not worth it."

Bauer previously ripped Major League Baseball for not negotiating in good faith and trying to vilify the players. 

"I don't think any of this should have been made public, that's the most concerning thing to me," Bauer told CBS Sports' Tiki and Tierney. "I haven't even seen the full proposal. That's not how you're supposed to negotiate. It's meant to pit owners on the 'right' side of things and players as the greedy ones."

The Cincinnati Reds joined numerous MLB teams forced to furlough staff and enact pay cuts for remaining employees on Thursday due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has prevented the 2020 MLB regular season from beginning. 

ESPN's Jeff Passan broke the news:

The Cincinnati Reds are the latest team to enact pay cuts and furloughs, sources tell ESPN. The cuts are tiered, up to 20%, and last through the end of the year. Upward of 25% of the team’s employees will be furloughed.

Similar moves are expected across baseball before June 1.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 14, 2020

Other MLB teams have enacted furloughs and pay cuts in recent days. 

Per an ESPN report on Wednesday, the Miami Marlins plan to furlough 90-100 employees beginning on June 1. Members of the executive team also took pay cuts, and CEO Derek Jeter will not take his salary.

The Associated Press reported on Tuesday, the Seattle Mariners will not furlough employees at least through Oct. 31, but some will see a five-month reduction in salary.

It's unclear if or when the MLB season will begin.

A proposal from MLB owners to players is on the table, and it consists of an 82-game season beginning in July following a shortened spring training session in June, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Games would be played at home ballparks without fans. The postseason would be expanded from 10 to 14 teams.

In that scenario, MLB teams still lose out on the billions in revenue brought in by fans. Per Elliott Morss of Morss Global Finance, all 30 teams totaled $2.26 billion in revenue at the gate in 2019.

That puts teams in a bind with the MLB season now delayed for nearly two months and no concrete timetable for a return in sight.

However, an agreement between owners and players on resuming play looks tenuous at best right now after the former group pushed a 50-50 revenue split in their offer.

Per Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drillich of The Athletic, one MLB official explained the stance and reasoning behind that:

"We lose money on every single game (without fans). We have to propose that they take something less than they already negotiated. We thought the most persuasive way to make that proposal was to explain: here's what we're going to make in revenue and we'll split it with you and here's how it turns into player salaries.

"You take everything, tell 'em this is everything we're going to make, we'll give you half of it. ... If we do better, we're not going to ask you to rely on our projections. We'll give you this as a minimum, if we make more, we'll give you half of what the more is."

MLBPA President Tony Clark made it clear that was not something the players would accept in comments to Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drillich of The Athletic:

"A system that restricts player pay based on revenues is a salary cap, period. This is not the first salary cap proposal our union has received. It probably won't be the last.

"That the league is trying to take advantage of a global health crisis to get what they've failed to achieve in the past—and to anonymously negotiate through the media for the last several days—suggests they know exactly how this will be received.

"None of this is beneficial to the process of finding a way for us to safely get back on the field and resume the 2020 season—which continues to be our sole focus."

Jesse Rogers of ESPN explained further why MLBPA would be vehemently opposed to such a deal as well.

"Fearful of those financial losses, owners approved a plan Monday that would pay players a percentage of their 2020 salaries based on a 50-50 split between players and owners of MLB's revenue from the regular season and postseason, sources told ESPN. The union views that concept as a salary cap, which it has said it will never agree to."

Also per Rogers, the MLB and MLBPA are at the negotiating table about regarding starting the 2020 season. The two sides met Wednesday, but topics of discussion centered around season logistics (e.g. roster sizes and spring training) rather than financial terms.

Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Trevor Bauer isn't interested in returning to play during the COVID-19 pandemic under Major League Baseball's current proposal. 

On Wednesday, he called the MLB plan "laughable": 

My reaction to the @Mlb return to play proposal. It’s laughable. @AgentRachelLuba makes some very good points here regarding the proposed revenue split and the problems with it. https://t.co/2CBH1FlRyK

— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) May 13, 2020

Bauer has been critical of MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred in the past, saying in February that many of the commissioner's decisions have contributed to baseball "losing popularity, especially amongst young people." 

"As the commissioner, figure it out man ... how are we supposed to get them interested in the game when they can't even see the damn game?" he added at the time. "And on top of that, they can't even go to Twitter, where all the young people hang out."

As for the current issue at hand, MLB's owners and the players association are at odds over the revenue-sharing plan that is reportedly on the table. 

As Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic reported Monday, "An economic system in which player compensation would come from 50 percent of league revenue in 2020 instead of the current salary structure is a non-starter" for the MLBPA. 

The players, who have already agreed to take a pay cut, view such a system—which would base salaries "only for this season upon the percentage of revenues generated by the sport"—as a salary cap.

League officials disagree, saying such a system "includes no minimum or maximum payroll" and thus views it as a "partnership in which players would simply prorate their salaries to match industry revenues at a time when the league does not know if and when it will open its parks to paying customers."

League officials reportedly feel they will lose too much money playing without fans under the current system of prorating salaries "on a per-game basis." The players disagree, citing the additional revenue that postseason baseball will add to the revenue pie. 

The topic remains a hotly debated one around baseball:

"If [a potential 2020 MLB season] blows up over money, they will lose fans that they will never get back. And they will deserve it."@Espngreeny and @teixeiramark25 are urging MLB players to accept the return-to-play proposal. pic.twitter.com/npOuO4kOFT

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) May 12, 2020

I refuse to judge someone I don’t really know off of one comment but damn this statement is just so stupid lol https://t.co/RoLeSVKEiF

— Alex Wood (@Awood45) May 13, 2020

MLBPA executive director Tony Clark told Rosenthal and Drellich in no uncertain terms that the union has no interest in the plan reportedly being pushed by MLB:

"A system that restricts player pay based on revenues is a salary cap, period. This is not the first salary cap proposal our union has received. It probably won't be the last. That the league is trying to take advantage of a global health crisis to get what they've failed to achieve in the past—and to anonymously negotiate through the media for the last several days—suggests they know exactly how this will be received."

The two sides have met electronically, per the Associated Press, though economic topics were not raised during the meeting. Outside of the actual logistics of playing games during the coronavirus pandemic, the financial divide between the players and owners remains the biggest sticking point to overcome. 

If you stayed up late or woke up extremely early to watch ESPN's Korean baseball broadcast Sunday, you were treated with a surprise: access to Trevor Bauer's personal phone number.

ESPN's graphics team forgot to edit out Bauer's number from his FaceTime session with Jon Sciambi and Jessica Mendoza, likely leading to a deluge of calls and texts to the Cincinnati Reds pitcher. Bauer took the "massive screw-up" in good spirits, however, offering to give away a pair of cleats and an autographed baseball to fans who called him:

So @espn has just leaked my number to truly the entire world lol in honor of this...shall we call it...massive screw up...I’m doing a giveaway! I’ll be giving away a pair of signed cleats and an autographed baseball over the next 48 hours. Rules are in my voicemail! Good luck! pic.twitter.com/luEqvwGtxW

— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) May 10, 2020

The number ESPN broadcast to fans is no longer available, so it's likely Bauer cut the 48-hour window a little short. 

"Hello, everyone, this is Trevor Bauer. Now that ESPN has leaked my number, I wanted to personally thank you for calling my phone. I appreciate all your support," Bauer said in a voicemail that was set up afterward.

Bauer has not tweeted since his initial post, so no winners to the gaffe giveaway have been announced.

Word to the wise for all athletes appearing on TV via FaceTime: Learn from Bauer...use a burner phone. 

The Cincinnati Reds announced Wednesday a team employee based in Arizona tested positive for the coronavirus. 

"For your reference, the dates involved are February 29, 2020, through March 14, 2020," the team said. "The Reds staff who came in close contact with this employee are being tested and have self-quarantined."

pic.twitter.com/rQITtT7Kp6

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) March 18, 2020

During spring training, the Reds are stationed in Goodyear, Arizona, along with the Cleveland Indians. 

MLB canceled spring training and pushed Opening Day back by at least two weeks to limit the possible spread of COVID-19. The league extended its hiatus through the middle of May after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended Sunday an eight-week halt to events with more than 50 people.

MLB Network's Jon Heyman reported that some MLB executives were hopeful of a start before June.

According to CNN, doctors have confirmed more than 193,000 cases of the coronavirus.

No MLB player has tested positive for the disease to date, but the New York Yankees announced Tuesday they had a second minor leaguer diagnosed with COVID-19.

Following the cancellation of spring training, players were permitted to leave their team's facilities and return home but had the option to remain where they were.