It felt appropriate that, after months of nasty public negotiations, Major League Baseball's "Hey, we're back" press release didn't take on a celebratory tone.
Before you got to the part of the press release stating that owners "have unanimously voted to proceed with the 2020 season," you had to get past a list of five "significant benefits" that the players rejected earlier in the day. Before any good news, MLB lamented the loss of "an exciting new Postseason format."
The release ended with two requests of the players: Tell us by 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday whether you can report to camp by July 1, and come to an agreement on health and safety protocols. It's here that we need to take a step back and really examine what's going on here.
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It was just three days ago that MLB teams, including the Giants, closed their spring training facilities after outbreaks of positive COVID-19 tests in some camps and scares in others. The Giants shut their facility down because one player and one family member exhibited symptoms of the coronavirus.
That's it. That's all it took.
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Tests were ordered for those two along with everyone else who had been in the facility, and they all came back negative. But just three days later, MLB asked teams if they could have 50ish players and a couple dozen more staffers in place by July 1. While teams had once been told they could get two weeks to prepare for Spring Training 2.0, many are now looking at getting dozens of people and trucks full of equipment to a home ballpark in a week, with the coronavirus still raging on as all this happens.
There was relief in a lot of corners Monday. The long and contentious negotiation is a thing of the past, at least for now, but as MLB moves forward, there are more questions than answers. The first one, as longtime big league pitcher Brett Anderson put it, is the big one:
It's now up to the players to decide what they would like to do. They were recently presented with a health and safety guide that's more than 100 pages, and they have less than 24 hours to decide if they truly feel safe in returning. The educated guess here is that the vote Tuesday will be an easy one. Many younger players had already packed their belongings in recent days, sensing that a decision was coming. Some older players -- with families and healthy bank accounts and resumes -- might reconsider, and the expectation from those within the game is that some players will back out, citing health concerns.
That's one question that should be answered this week. There are plenty of others to ponder. What will the rules truly look like after months of back-and-forth? How big will rosters be, and taxi squads? Will the Giants be allowed to take their preferred path and go heavy on top prospects?
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These answers are coming, but players and team employees are still waiting to hear more about the big question. As this process has dragged on, the coronavirus has seen a surge of new cases. Giants officials long ago predicted the current issues in the Phoenix area and left town, with some players doing the same in recent days. But California is all of a sudden not much safer, with a new high in hospitalizations set on Saturday.
The Giants have done what they can to prepare. They've explored plans for additional clubhouse space at Oracle Park and could build additional batting cages in the concourses to further spread out players and coaches. There was talk in recent weeks of upgrading the filtration system around the ballpark. Internally, members of the organization expect to have Oracle Park ready for Spring Training 2.0 by the end of this week, but there will be plenty of surprises as players and staffers get back together for the first time in three months.
This has been one of the ugliest fights in the game's history, and as MLB announced a proposed return to the field, the press release offered a stark reminder of what's to come. The hard part is just beginning.
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