You won't get an argument by me that it's bad optics on both sides. The players aren't going to get any sympathy for battling over millions of dollars from average Joes. The owners may be out of the public right now, but they're just as guilty of making this a fight between money. Their poor optics are not negotiating in good faith one year away from a major CBA negotiation. We're reading different sources in regards to the pro-rated contracts. I read this quote from Scott Boras in SI. “The players I represent are unified in that they reached an agreement and they sacrificed anywhere from 30 to 40% of their salaries so that the games could amicably continue,” said Boras. “The owners represented during that negotiation that they could operate without fans in the ballpark. Based on that, we reached an agreement and there will not be a renegotiation of that agreement.” Which makes me believe they discussed not having fans in the stands, owners agreed to the pro-rated salaries, and now owners want to take that back to see what other concessions they can get out of the players. By the way, didn't the MLB use replacement players during the strike in 1995 and it was a colossal failure? Would you pay the same amount of money to attend a game at Target Field with a team full of AAAA talent?