Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association (MLBPA) continued negotiations for a modified 2020 season on Monday. The league delivered its latest proposal to the MLBPA outlining another option for the season, according to ESPN's Karl Ravech. Per Ravech, the league's proposal calls for a 76-game regular season that would end on Sept. 27 with a postseason finishing up by the end of October. Also included in the league's proposal: 75 percent prorated salaries, playoff pool money and no MLB draft pick compensation for signing players.
The league previously rejected the MLBPA's recent proposal that would have featured a 114-game season and an expanded postseason. At the time, the league was not expected to make a counteroffer. Discussions have been contentious, and the two sides are struggling to come to terms over player compensation.
As our own Mike Axisa points out, the league's offers, including this latest one, have all come out to roughly the same percentage for player salary. MLB previously offered a "sliding scale" proposal and reportedly would pay prorated salaries in a 50-game season.
- 82 games at sliding scale = ~33% salary
— Mike Axisa (@mikeaxisa) June 8, 2020
- 50 games at prorated pay = ~33% salary
- 76 games at 75% prorated pay = (drumroll) ~33% salary
It all comes back to the same place. MLB keeps making the same offer in different forms. https://t.co/DVfURfN50f
The Players Association, meanwhile, has held firm that it wants prorated salaries for players based on the number of games played in 2020. The two sides agreed to this arrangement in March, but the league has pushed players to take another pay cut since games are likely to be played without fans.
Evan Drellich of The Athletic reports that the union thinks the league's latest offer is even worse than its previous proposals.
The MLBPA regards today’s offer from MLB to be worse than the league’s last because it shifts greater emphasis on risk sharing in the postseason. Players would receive 50 percent of pro rata if there is no postseason, 75 if there is. @karlravechespn first on a new offer coming.
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) June 8, 2020
ESPN's Jeff Passan adds that the Players Association has been asked to respond to the league's Monday proposal by Wednesday. With each day that passes without an official agreement between the two sides, the length of the 2020 season decreases, and the prospect of a 48-game season becoming more likely, Passan reports.
It's worth noting that MLB's proposal includes a 16-team postseason, in which eight teams from each league make it to the tournament, according to the New York Post's Joel Sherman. Under MLB's current structure, a league-wide total of 10 teams make the playoffs each fall.
Passan added some more details elsewhere, including how the league's proposal would call for a three-plus week second "spring" training, and would allow high-risk individuals to opt out while receiving their pay and service time. Players who were not deemed high risk can still opt out, albeit without receiving either.
CBS Sports HQ's David Samson broke down the league's latest proposal on Monday's episode of Nothing Personal with David Samson. Listen below:
Player compensation and general safety are the biggest hurdles facing the return of baseball. In regards to safety, the league's proposal reportedly includes a revision to the Operations Manual that says players would have to sign an "acknowledgment of risk" before agreeing to play this season, Jorge Castillo of the LA Times reports. Players believe the league has designed the revision as a way to undermine their right to challenge the league, if it fails to provide a safe working environment, Castillo adds.
MLB had originally scheduled to launch its season on March 26. Two weeks prior, the league was forced to hit pause, alongside every other in-season professional sports league, due to the spread of COVID-19.
