Epstein: We all have to be better to become part of the solution

In his first public interview since the coronavirus pandemic halted major-league baseball nearly three months ago, Cubs president Theo Epstein made himself available to talk about the game returning with an abbreviated season and Wednesday's amateur draft.

He touched on both topics, but only after addressing the nation's upheaval in the wake of George Floyd's Memorial Day death in Minneapolis.

"I'd like to start by offering my condolences to the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and the countless victims that keep losing their lives to racist violence in this country, year after year, decade after decade, century after century," Epstein said. "I join my colleagues at the Cubs in standing up in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and the protesters who are doing their best to make this a real inflection point in our history. At this moment in time, silence is complicity, and it's important that all of our voices are heard."

No matter when - or if - baseball returns this season, Epstein said minorities need to be given more opportunities in major-league baseball.

"It's an issue that needs to be addressed on an individual level, a club level and a leaguewide level," Epstein said. "And it's something we need to hold ourselves and each other accountable for. I certainly plan to continue looking inward and question my own assumptions, my own attitudes and my own decision-making until I can do better."

Epstein said the Cubs are already in the process of forming a diversity committee to "make sure we can set better standards for ourselves and hold ourselves accountable, to be better on this issue. And the league has protocols in place. Based on what the league has said about tackling this issue head on and needing to be better at this moment in time, I imagine that they're going to be redoubling their efforts at the leaguewide level as well."

Epstein said MLB can do a better job hiring black people in the front office and dugouts.

"Protocols are nice, but results are better," the Cubs' president said. "We're just not there. I think it's two African American GMs and two African American managers (in the majors) at the moment. It's not at a place where it needs to be. I think we all recognize that. I would expect you'll see better processes and results at all those levels of the game going forward."

Epstein also said he can do a better job dealing with minorities.

"The majority of people that I hire, if I'm being honest, have similar backgrounds to me and look a lot like me," Epstein said. "And that's something that I need to ask myself, 'Why'? I need to question my own assumptions, my own attitudes. I need to find a way to do better. If we all take that approach in the industry ... we need to. If there's one thing we've learned with systemic racism in general in this world, the system doesn't check itself.

"It's on each of us to take action and stand up and make some changes. I'm the white person who has had a lot of advantages in life. I can't begin to walk in the shoes of a black person in this country or a black player in major-league baseball. I think I can also look inward, too. That's another step that we all have to take in society as well as in the game, take a hard look at ourselves. It can be hard, it can be painful to look at ourselves, but when we have a problem that systemic, we all have to admit we're part of the problem.

"We all have to be better to become a part of the solution. So to the extent that clubhouses are not a (welcoming) place for black players, we should all be asking ourselves what we can do to fix that problem. To the extent that we don't have enough black general managers or black managers, I think we all need to look at ourselves, at our own practices. As I've looked inward, that's something that I need to find a place to be better."

As for the current state of the game, Epstein isn't sure if baseball is going to return and play an abbreviated 76-game season, a new proposal the owners pitched to the players' union Monday.

He's not sure if the season will return with 82 games, 114 games or possibly 50 games, which have all been discussed during MLB's shutdown.

"I know it looks like a proposal was made this morning," Epstein said. "I'm really busy with the draft, but I think I share the sentiments with baseball fans that I'm really hopeful that we have baseball as soon as possible. I know that's a sentiment that both sides in the negotiation share, so hopefully that will carry the day and we'll be able to get back on the field as soon as possible."

Money remains the major sticking point, and the owners' new offer on Monday reportedly guarantees only half of players' prorated salaries, with a chance of that figure rising to 75%.

In late March, the two sides agreed on 100% pay based on games played, but that was under the owners' assumption games would be played with fans in the stands.

The Major League Baseball Players Association still wants full pay for games played, even though most stadiums will be empty if a season is able to launch next month.

In an interesting twist, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said last week sports stadiums in the state could reopen at 50% capacity.

Texas is home to two major-league teams, the Astros and the Rangers, and other states may follow suit this summer.

More fans obviously means more revenue, but the owners and players have been unable to reach a financial agreement as the clock continues to tick.

MLB does have the authority to implement a much shorter season with full prorated salaries, and they have been mulling playing only 50 games or even fewer.

Negotiations have been dragging on, and the clock continues ticking. Even if a deal is reached this week, there is little or no chance the game can get going again on or near July 4, the original target date.

A mid-July return is now the best-case scenario.