Shortly after the MLB players association rejected the league's latest return-to-play proposal, Major League Baseball announced its intention to impose a 2020 season.
MLB's 30 owners voted unanimously to implement a season but would not specify its length or other key details before hearing back from players.
The league said it wants to know by 5 p.m. Tuesday whether the players can report to camp by July 1 and whether the union agrees to the league's health and safety protocols.
The league outlined that pieces of previous proposals will not be included, such as:
1. The universal DH for two years
2. A guaranteed $25 million in playoff pools in 2020
3. $33 million in forgiven salary advances that would increase the take home pay of 61% of Major League players
4. Overall earnings for players of 104 percent of prorated salary
MLB also agreed to remove the expanded postseason in 2021 in order to address player concerns.
MLB had targeted July 19-20 as a start date for a shortened season. There are now more hurdles than there were a week ago. There have been flareups of coronavirus in a number of states, including Florida and Texas, and several teams, including the Phillies, have had multiple players test positive for the virus. It's possible that some players could opt out of a shortened season for health reasons. It's also possible that there could be more flareups as teams officially reconvene and that could alter plans.
MLB proposed a 60-game season a week ago and Manfred stated that he believed the framework for a deal was in place. There was optimism, briefly, on both sides. The union responded with a 70-game proposal. MLB, which wants to get the regular season completed in September, before a postseason, stuck to its proposal of 60 games. That proposal was rejected Monday evening.
By not agreeing to MLB's proposal, the union kept open the important possibility of legal action against MLB. The union would find a grievance and a grievance procedure quite valuable as it could force owners to open their financial books before the two sides begin negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement. The current CBA expires after the 2021 season.
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