Cubs' Happ: Owners claiming financial losses that weren't realized

Chicago Cubs outfielder Ian Happ believes MLB owners aren't framing the narrative properly regarding how much money teams lost during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

"You don't really see the players coming out and saying that we took a 63% loss this year," Happ told 670 The Score's "Dan Bernstein Show" on Tuesday. "That's not the narrative from the players because we didn't lose any real money. Guys still got paid. Guys still made more than zero. We didn't have to give anything back.

"So it's really tough to claim loss when it's just money that wasn’t realized. But that's the case on both sides, right? The case is there was a projection for earnings, and nobody met their projection for earnings. And that was the case in 2020. That was the case for many businesses across the world in 2020. And you don’t see players coming out and using that narrative because it would go terribly, right?"

The league said in late October that it suffered $3.1 billion in losses last season. However, some, including agent Scott Boras, have suggested teams still made money despite no revenue from ticket sales during a 60-game campaign.

Relations between clubs and the MLBPA might not get any better for the 2021 season. Owners say commissioner Rob Manfred's authority on prorate and schedule is absolute, while the union doesn't want to make concessions like they did for the previous campaign, according to Bob Klapisch of the Star-Ledger.