Fans of the New York Yankees and all the MLB teams continue to wait for a baseball season, amid a coronavirus pandemic, racial rioting in the streets, and with millions of Americans unemployed. During all of this strife and health concerns, baseball doesn’t seem to be able to get a deal done to give some hope and enjoyment to fans that just want to see the boys of summer out there playing baseball.
MLB wants players to take a 50% salary cut that was agreed upon back in March and to take further cuts sharing any losses the owners may endure. The players called any plan for revenue sharing dead on arrival. The players consider that a revenue cap, something they have rejected since the 1970s. The owners countered with no revenue sharing, but pay cuts of as much as 75% for the highest-paid players with lesser percentage cuts for those earning near the minimum.
According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the MLBPA (players union), a counteroffer to MLB’s last proposal, was presented to MLB Sunday afternoon. The Players are now asking for a 114 game season ending on October 31st. They also want an opt-out for any player that does not wish to play. Players would continue to receive the 50% of pay but would take home more money with more games played.
For the players opting out: those who are considered “high-risk” would receive a salary, whereas others would receive service time only. Further, players would receive $100 million in total advances during the new spring training. Also: MLBPA proposes two years of playoff expansion. Passan suggests that the players union put in a salary deferment if a 2020 season is not played as an olive branch to the owners. It would defer $100M total, applied to players making $10M+ before proration, and would do so with interest to make players whole. It opens the door to more.
A 114 game season also presents questions of what an expanded postseason would look like. The main concern would be the logistics of where the games would be played with at least half of all teams located in areas that where games wouldn’t be able to be played due to cold and winter weather. Neutral sites in warmer parts of the country would have to be used. Another consideration for owners is that playoff games would suffer revenue loss due to football games being televised at the same time.
With each proposal and counterproposal being refused, the likelihood of a 2020 baseball season seems less likely. Some owners are even saying that they would be willing to forgo the season to save money. Although there are health concerns that have been addressed by MLB’s 67-page health initiative, money remains the stumbling block to getting a deal done.
Fans see this as millionaires fighting with billionaires, both wanting to make more money. Meanwhile, baseball fans sit cloistered at home with no baseball to enjoy. If the baseball season is canceled, it will do damage to the game that may take years to recover from, when baseball is already in decline. Both the MLB and the MLBPA must come to a compromise that satisfies both sides to some degree, and sooner than later, because the clock is ticking on the ability to have a viable season.
EmpireSportsMedia.com’s Columnist William Parlee is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research. Follow me on Twitter @parleewilliam