Baseball is back and while fans can rejoice over the return of America’s favorite pastime, former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter says the relationship between players and owners has been severely damaged along the way.
Jeter, now part owner of the Miami Marlins, called the “back and forth” between the players union and MLB leading up to Commissioner Rob Manfred’s decision to go with a 60-game schedule “disappointing” and “embarrassing.”
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“It was pretty sad to see the back and forth being played out publicly in a time like now,” Jeter said on a Marlins podcast Tuesday, according to Yahoo Sports.
“We have so many people filing for unemployment throughout the country; over 30 million people, 40 million people with no jobs. And they really don't want to hear owners and players going back and forth about how much money they deserve and how much money they need.”
One of the most respected players to ever wear the blue pinstripes, Jeter can relate to the player's hesitation in negotiating the shortened season.
"I get it, I was a player. I feel as though players should fight for everything that they feel as though they should have. And I'll always support them in that sense. But, in this particular case, I think some things should have been done behind the scenes."
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"It was disappointing, it was embarrassing at times, the back and forth," he continued. "There is no trust (between the owners and players) is the best way to put it."
Manfred appeared to apologize for MLB’s role in the public battle between owners and players in an interview last week with The Associated Press.
“We need to get back on the field, and we need to, in a less-charged environment, start to have conversations about how we — and the we in that sentence is the commissioner’s office, my staff, the clubs and the MLBPA and the players — can be better going forward,” he said.
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“We owe it to our fans to be better than we’ve been for the last three months.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.