Major League Baseball has made a counter-offer to the MLB Players Association to start the 2020 season, but the MLBPA says it is a “step backward.”
The owners latest offer would consist of a 76-game season where players receive slightly under $1 billion in salary and more than $400 million more if the MLB playoffs happen, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
In total, the move would mean players would get about 75 percent of pro-rated salaries if there is a 2020 postseason, per Passan. He says players have been pushing for 100 percent of pro-rated salaries.
One high-ranking official today said, in no uncertain terms: “There will be baseball.” The question is: Will it be with the sides agreeing to a deal or with the league implementing a 48-game schedule, no expanded playoffs and almost certainly a grievance filed by the union?
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 8, 2020
If no agreement is made and MLB implements a 48-game season, players would only receive slightly more than $1 billion in salary with no playoff revenue going to players, per Passan. However, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that the players feel the owners’ latest proposal is a worse proposal than the one they rejected last week.
The #MLBPA considers #MLB‘s latest offer a “step backwards”. They guaranteed 50% pay with possibility of earning 75% prorated salary. Also in proposal, per @karlravechespn, 76-game season, playoff money and no draft pick compensation for free agency.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) June 8, 2020
Most plans have involved games without fans, with the schedule mainly centered around playing opponents in teams’ divisions and their counterpart in the opposite league. These moves would allow for shorter road trips to help mitigate the risk of coronavirus.
This would mean the Milwaukee Brewers’ schedule would include NL Central rival Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals, and the AL Central’s Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins.
MLB made the decision to halt the season in March when the coronavirus pandemic struck North America.