With NASCAR set to resume its season this coming weekend, another sport could be back very soon. MLB owners approved a proposal on Monday that involves starting the 2020 season.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred will present the proposal to the Players Association on Tuesday. The proposal calls for an 82-game season, the use of home stadiums that have governmental approval, a Spring Training 2.0 that begins in June with the season starting in early July, teams playing divisional opponents and interleague opponents in similar areas, a universal designated hitter, and 14 playoff teams instead of 10, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.
“Bear with me, but it feels like we’ve zoomed past the most important aspect of any MLB restart plan: health protections for players, families, staff, stadium workers and the workforce it would require to resume a season,” Washington Nationals pitcher Sean Doolittle tweeted. “What’s the plan to ethically acquire enough tests? … What’s the protocol if a player, staff member, or worker contracts the virus?”
Bear with me, but it feels like we've zoomed past the most important aspect of any MLB restart plan: health protections for players, families, staff, stadium workers and the workforce it would require to resume a season. Here are some things I'll be looking for in the proposal…
— Sean Doolittle (@whatwouldDOOdo) May 11, 2020
Money is going to be a huge part of the negotiations. In March, the players and teams reached an agreement that players would receive a portion of their salary based on what percentage of a full 162-game season is played. Now, teams will propose that players receive a percentage of their 2020 salaries based on a 50-50 split of revenue that MLB receives, according to Ronald Blum of the Associated Press.
Agent Scott Boras will be among the exeuctives asking the MLBPA to reject the proposal.
“The players I represent are unified in that they reached an agreement and they sacrificed anywhere from 30 to 40 pecent of their salaries so that the games could amicably continue,” Boras told Sports Illustrated. “The owners represented during that negotiation that they could operate without fans in the ballpark. Based on that, we reached an agreement and there will not be a renegotiation of that agreement.”
The MLBPA and league should figure out the money situation and then the Players Association should approve it. It looks like we will have baseball soon.
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