Report: MLB ends negotiation stalemate, players call progress into question

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Negotiations are back on between Major League Baseball and its players association, after a brief stalemate last week.

The league’s latest proposal is for a 76-game season, according to multiple reports, fewer games than its original 82-game proposal but more than the threat of 50-game season without an agreement in place.

After originally suggesting a controversial sliding-scale pay structure, which had the highest-paid players taking the largest cuts, the owners' latest proposal reportedly has players making up to 75 percent of their prorated salaries. However, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported that only 50 percent of pay would be guaranteed. The other 25 percent would be contingent on the playoffs.

That, The Athletic’s Evan Drellich reported, is why the players association considers MLB’s latest proposal worse than its last. The owners and players would share the risk of the postseason being cancelled by a second wave of COVID-19. According to Nightengale, the MLBPA described the offer as a “step backwards.”

The owners’ proposal, ESPN reported, also includes playoff pool money and eliminates draft pick compensation. The regular season would end Sept. 27, and the postseason would run through October. Up to eight teams per league coud make the playoffs.

Negotiations between the players and owners have remained publicly contentious since the league delivered its first economic proposal to the MLBPA two weeks ago. According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the league has asked the players association to respond by Wednesday.

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