Major League Baseball voted on Monday to move forward with a March agreement to return to play after weeks of renegotiating with the players’ union to change the deal’s terms.
MLB owners went back to the March plan, agreed to by both sides early in the pandemic, after trying for about six weeks to renegotiate players’ pay for a truncated season without fans. The latest revision was rejected by the players’ union earlier Monday, according to CBS Sports. Under the March agreement, players’ will be paid their salary on a prorated basis for the number of games played.
While many of the details are still fluid as the MLB waits for a response from the players’ union, the sport is expected to move forward with a 60-game season. Spring training is tentatively scheduled for July 1, and Opening Day is expected to fall on July 24, according to ESPN.
Aside from a response from the players on the pay structure, the MLB is also negotiating with the union on health protocols for the sport amid the coronavirus pandemic. The union signaled in a Monday statement that it intends to approve the health guidelines and procedures proposed by the league with modest changes.
“Earlier this evening, the full Board reaffirmed the players’ eagerness to return to work as soon and as safely as possible. To that end, we anticipate finalizing a comprehensive set of health and safety protocols with Major League Baseball in the coming days, and we await word from the league on the resumption of spring training camps and a proposed 2020 schedule,” the union said.
The league released a statement following the vote:
Today, the Major League Baseball Players Association informed us that they have rejected the agreement framework developed by Commissioner Manfred and Tony Clark. Needless to say, we are disappointed by this development.
The framework provided an opportunity for MLB and its players to work together to confront the difficulties and challenges presented by the pandemic. It gave our fans the chance to see an exciting new Postseason format. And, it offered players significant benefits including:
- The universal DH for two years
- A guaranteed $25 million in playoff pools in 2020
- $33 million in forgiven salary advances that would increase the take home pay of 61% of Major League players
- Overall earnings for players of 104 percent of prorated salary
- Over the last two days, MLB agreed to remove expanded Postseason in 2021 in order to address player concerns
In view of this rejection, the MLB Clubs have unanimously voted to proceed with the 2020 season under the terms of the March 26th Agreement. The provisions listed above will not be operative.
In order to produce a schedule with a specific number of games, we are asking that the Players Association provide to us by 5:00 p.m. (ET) tomorrow with two pieces of information. The first is whether players will be able to report to camp within seven days (by July 1st). The second is whether the Players Association will agree on the Operating Manual which contains the health and safety protocols necessary to give us the best opportunity to conduct and complete our regular season and Postseason.
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