Major League Baseball has made a new offer to the Players Association that might just get a deal done.
According to ESPN’s Karl Ravech, the league’s counter-proposal includes a season of around 70-plus games with the players receiving 80 percent to 85 percent of prorated salaries. It also includes an expanded playoff format with a share of the playoff pool among the players.
Sources tell me MLB counter proposal today will move towards a season of roughly 70 plus games with a salary percentage on the 80-85 percent of pro rata. Playoff pool bonus. My concern are the recent spikes in COVID -19. Worst case would be to start and stop. Will players move?
— Karl Ravech (@karlravechespn) June 12, 2020
This is the third exchange of proposals between the two sides this week. On Monday, MLB proposed a 76-game season with the players receiving 75 percent of their prorated salaries. On Tuesday, the players submitted a counter-proposal that included an 89-game season with full prorated salaries and expanded playoffs.
Up to this point, the players have been very set on receiving 100 percent of their prorated salaries, but the owners have only been willing to offer that for a 40- or 50-game season. That was a non-starter for the players, but now that MLB has come a lot closer to a middle ground on the number of games and has moved even closer to full pro-rata, there seems to be optimism that a deal can be reached.
Before the MLB Draft on Wednesday night, commissioner Rob Manfred said that he is “100 percent sure” that there will be a 2020 season. The agreement made between the players and the owners back in March gives the commissioner the right to mandate the players to return to the field for a shortened season (around 50 games) as long as they receive full prorated salaries.
One thing is for certain: we are closer than ever to baseball’s return and this is a good sign of a deal being completed in the coming days.
