MLB plowing into the small season after rejecting the players’ proposal

MLB rejected the Players Association’s proposal for a 114 game season and is building an internal consensus on implementing a season of approximately 50 games for a full prorated game for players, unless players are willing to play around 82 games less than that, sources told The Send.

The union on Sunday made a counterproposal to the MLB that would require a 114-game season and no cuts in the prorated pay.

MLB has opposed both concepts. They offered an 82-game regular season ending in September with the playoffs in traditional October, largely due to concerns that the coronavirus might bounce back with a strong wave in colder weather and lead to the postseason cancellation, which it is the great sport. National TV Moneymaker.

And MLB has also been strident that it wouldn’t play as many games at prorated wages and would incur what it said would be greater losses when playing.

During what was sometimes a controversial negotiation on Sunday between senior officials on both sides, MLB said that if prorated wages were mandatory, the March 26 agreement between the two entities gives Commissioner Rob Manfred the right to implement a season of any duration. The concept is between a regular season of 40-60 games, but the expectation is that they would focus more on 48-54 games.

MLB would essentially give the union a choice of three months of games, but not with a full prorated payment, or two months with a prorated total.

The union has tried to have more games because that generally equals more pay. And the union has been so publicly hot that players should get their full prorated wages over a longer season like MLB has been that players shouldn’t.

MLB believes that as long as it meets the health / safety and economic viability requirements, which it believes it has, the commissioner could implement a season of any length. However, even if the union agreed, the season could not continue without the players’ blessing on other issues, such as health and safety. So there would be a question if the owners could terminate the components of the March 26 deal if the players reject the shorter season, meaning they agreed that they would get full-service time this year regardless of how many or few games (including zero) the sides. they play.

But even if the players agreed to a shorter season and full prorated pay, that’s going to backfire on the industry. There are already asterisk-level credibility questions that would come with an 82-game campaign. What if there were 48 games? Would anyone think that the final winner of the World Series is really a champion or that the statistics are legitimate or worth worrying about? Also, would more players stay away if they believed legitimacy issues, why even show up and take the risks created by the coronavirus?