After a lengthy stalemate in negotiations to begin a shortened 2020 season, it appears there might be Major League Baseball this summer after all.
According to a report by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, MLB owners and the Major League Baseball Players’ Association are close to an agreement that would see a 66-game season beginning next month.
Source: MLB proposal includes:
•60 games in 70 days
•Season starting July 19th/20th
•Full Prorated Salary
•Expanded Playoffs in 2020 and 2021
•Waiving of any potential grievance— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) June 17, 2020
While the initial tweet suggested a 60-game schedule, both Rosenthal and The Athletic’s Jayson Stark suggested that the union could have one more counter that would involve adding more games, with 66 making the most sense.
Since Ken reworded his tweet, let's do this one more time…
Here's why 66 games works:
*12 games each vs 4 division opponents
*3 games each vs 4 interleague opponents
*6 games (home and home) vs interleague rival https://t.co/bbTAb5t7y0— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) June 17, 2020
Under the agreement, the 2020 season would begin July 19-20 and give the players a full prorated salary they previously agreed to in March. In the following proposals, owners had offered a percentage of that amount due to the probability that fans will not be allowed to attend games because of the pandemic.
The number of games has also been a sticking point as players have wanted to play as many games as possible to retain their prorated salary. However, Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer explained that owners want more postseason games because they keep all of the money from postseason games. The TV rights to playoff games were sold to Turner Sports for over $1 billion last weekend.
Bauer also criticized Commissioner Rob Manfred for dragging negotiations along with threats of canceling of the season, arbitration and grievances with the MLBPA.
So, Rob, explain to us how you can be 100% sure that there’s going to be baseball but not confident there will be baseball at the same time? hmmm. What changed between those statements 🤔🤔 Players told you to set the season, but it’s too early to set the season right now,
— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) June 15, 2020
play as many games as possible”. The public backlash combined with potential of having to explain yourself in front of an arbitrator isn’t too appealing, is it? Let’s see…the way I have it figured you want to play between 50 and 60 games. Can’t make it 50 cuz that would be too
— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) June 15, 2020
Prorated salary, so you’ll probably settle somewhere around there, potentially a couple games higher than that to throw people off the scent, isn’t that right, Rob? So in that scenario, let’s see, sept 27 end date to protect playoff tv schedules, 60 ish games, going to have to
— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) June 15, 2020
Is June 15, so how do you delay another 13 days? 🤔🤔🤔 guess we all got that answer today. Threaten to cancel the season. Threaten arbitration. Threaten grievances. All the while, hold the fans for ransom. Hold the future of the game for ransom. No one believes your bluff, bud.
— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) June 15, 2020
You’re holding a losing hand. Unfortunately, it’s a losing hand for everyone involved, not just you. There’s some saying out there about not killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. Check it out on the ole google machine. It’s worth knowing.
— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) June 15, 2020
Despite the MLBPA saying Wednesday afternoon that no agreement has been reached, a statement by Manfred suggests that the two sides have made enough progress on a deal where clubs could “move forward.”
https://twitter.com/gregjohnsmlb/status/1273340890086400001
It remains to be seen if the two sides can actually strike a deal, but it appears that maybe there’s been enough progress that baseball can now compete with the NHL, NBA, MLS, WNBA and NFL in a backlogged COVID-19 universe.
