In the back-and-and-forth negotiations between Major League Baseball players and owners, intended to get the 2020 season started during the coronavirus pandemic, the latest counterproposal from owners is for a micro season in the neighborhood of 50 games, ESPN reported Monday.
The owners originally proposed an 82-game regular season to start in early July, followed by playoffs. On Sunday, the MLB Players¡¯ Association countered with a 114-game season that would start June 30, followed by playoffs.
According to Monday¡¯s report, the owners are willing to relent to the players¡¯ demand of a prorated portion of salary by number of games played. But instead of meeting in the middle on how many regular-season games would be played, the owners are now considering ¡°a schedule of around 50 games,¡± according to the report by Jeff Passan.
Under the owners¡¯ latest proposal, the season would get under way on an unspecified date in July.
The players believe that an agreement between the sides back in March awarded them a prorated portion of their salaries based on games played. The owners believe the same agreement gives them the ability to mandate a shorter season, as well as the ability to further reduce player pay if fans are not in the stands for games.
The consensus is that a three-week renewal of spring training is needed before payers take the field. If the shortened season were to start on July 1, teams would need to return to a spring training setting by June 10.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.