After commissioner Rob Manfred said a couple of days ago that he wasn’t confident there would be a season in 2020, MLB owners made a renewed offer to the players’ association that includes full prorated salary.
While the MLBPA said via Twitter that reports of an agreement already being in place were false, it is clear that there is now light at the end of the tunnel and the overall landscape is much better than yesterday.
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, MLB’s newest proposal includes 60 games to be played in a span of 70 days, with the MLB season starting either on July 19 or July 20.
Per Joel Sherman of the New York Post, Manfred and the union’s leader Tony Clark met face to face on Tuesday to discuss the fate of the season, and another meeting took place on Wednesday.
MLB would have expanded playoffs this year and next
The offer also includes expanded playoffs in 2020 and 2021 and the union waiving of any potential grievance.
As Rotoworld suggests, that offer might not be the ultimate agreement, but there certainly appears to be “momentum” towards a deal that lets us enjoy baseball in 2020.
Jon Heyman of MLB Network had previously reported that the MLB and the MLBPA were “closing in on an agreement to play the 2020 season.” However, the MLBPA quickly tweeted that “reports of an agreement are false.” That doesn’t mean that the two sides took a huge step today.
In fact, the fact that there is no agreement yet is because the offer was just recently submitted, and Clark would have to present it to the union before it can be ratified.
The season was scheduled to start on March 26, nearly three months ago. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, MLB was forced to suspend it indefinitely. Public health conditions aren’t necessarily optimal, but it appears that there will be baseball this year after all. Stay tuned for further news.