MLB: Players association counters with 89 game proposal

On Monday, the MLB submitted a 76 game proposal for the 2020 season to the players association, and it was quickly rejected. However, on Tuesday, the players association countered with a proposal of their own.

While still requesting prorated salaries, the union sent an 89 game proposal back to the league. This proposal would include an expanded postseason of 16 teams and pool money for players participating in the postseason. As previously agreed upon, players will still have the opportunity to opt-out of the season if they so desire.

This proposal has a set Opening Day of July 10th with the season-ending October 11th. This would be to start the postseason after the conclusion of the NBA Finals.

But, it’s expected that the owners will not accept the deal, taking things back to the drawing boards. Owners don’t want to pay prorated salaries and don’t want to adjust TV dates for the postseason. They may come back with a counter-offer, and if they do, we may be able to gauge exactly where we are in negotiations. We’re at the point now where each day spent in negotiations is one less day that could be spent playing baseball. A deal needs to get done, and it needs to be done quickly.

Baseball is already starting to lose fans from this, as many are fed up with the on-going negotiations. The owners seem to have little to no interest in playing and only care about the money they have now. It would be a one-season revenue loss, and once fans are in the stands, they will make back all the lost money.

With everything going on in the world, we need baseball as a distraction. However, the owners don’t seem to care, and it’s unfortunate as it could kill baseball.

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