MLB commissioner no longer confident there will be a season

After saying last week, ‘‘We are going to play Major League Baseball this year,’’ commissioner Rob Manfred backtracked Monday, telling ESPN he’s ‘‘not confident’’ there will be a season after all.

Talks between MLB and the players’ union about how to split up money in a season delayed by the coronavirus pandemic grew increasingly contentious Monday. Meanwhile, MLB said several players have tested positive for the coronavirus.

‘‘I’m not confident’’ there will be a season, Manfred said. ‘‘I think there’s real risk.

‘‘It’s just a disaster for our game, absolutely. No question about it. It shouldn’t be happening, and it’s important that we find a way to get past it and get the game back on the field for the benefit of our fans.’’

Disaster, indeed. Many fans on social media are saying they are fed up and losing interest in the sport.

Weeks ago, baseball was positioned to be the first major North American sport to return after it was shut down during spring training. Now, no baseball till next year has become a possibility, Manfred said.

Deputy commissioner Dan Halem sent a seven-page letter to MLB Players Association chief negotiator Bruce Meyer, asking the union whether it will waive the threat of legal action and tell MLB to announce a spring-training reporting date and a regular-season schedule. According to the Los Angeles Times, MLB told the MLBPA there would be no season unless the union waived any legal action in the form of a grievance against management.

The players are growing more angry and frustrated by the hour. Manfred said their ‘‘decision to end good-faith negotiations’’ and the need for an agreement with the union on health and safety protocols ‘‘were really negative in terms of our efforts.’’

‘‘The owners are 100 percent committed to getting baseball back on the field,’’ Manfred said. ‘‘Unfortunately, I can’t tell you that I’m 100 percent certain that’s gonna happen.’’

MLBPA chief Tony Clark, who told MLB on Saturday to let the players know when and where to go to work, said this in a statement released by the union: ‘‘Players are disgusted that after Rob Manfred unequivocally told players and fans that there would ‘100%’ be a 2020 season, he has decided to go back on his word and is now threatening to cancel the entire season.’’

The sides agreed March 26 on how to revise their labor deal to account for the coronavirus. But hostility has escalated to 1990s levels, with MLB saying teams can’t afford to play without fans and pay the prorated salaries called for in the March agreement, which included a provision for good-faith negotiations over the possibility of playing in empty parks or neutral sites.

‘‘The proliferation of COVID-19 outbreaks around the country over the last week, and the fact that we already know of several 40-man roster players and staff who have tested positive, has increased the risks associated with commencing spring training in the next few weeks,’’ Halem wrote in his letter to Meyer, a copy of which was obtained by the Associated Press.

Contributing: Sun-Times wires