Play Ball? MLB Players Extend Olive Branch With Plan to Start Season

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4 years ago

Sunday evening offered a ray of hope for baseball fans, if no one else. Around 10 p.m. EST, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) had delivered a proposal to owners earlier Sunday afternoon. The deal looks a lot better all around than what had been proposed by MLB owners last week.

The MLBPA delivered a proposal to MLB on Sunday afternoon, a source familiar with it tells ESPN. It includes 114-game season that would end October 31, the right to opt out of the season for all players and potential deferral of salaries if 2020 the postseason were canceled.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 1, 2020

MLBPA Proposal Details

The comprehensive 67-page plan from MLBPA could represent a big step toward a deal to start a season. The players plan includes a 114-game MLB season which would begin on June 30 with spring training to begin as quickly as possible, since players want at least three weeks to get up to real games. This essentially means that owners and players will have to finalize any deal this week, a positive response from owners today would be huge.

Important note from the MLBPA's proposal. It has a season start date of June 30. Players want three weeks for training. Bake in a few days to travel to cities — domestically and from around the world — and for coronavirus testing. The point: a deal needs to get done this week.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 1, 2020

The season would run from June 30 to October 31 with playoffs taking place during November, pushing the end of the season at least a full month back into the calendar year. There was no additional reporting bout the nature of the planned schedule or any temporary divisional alignment changes as had previously been debated in the original MLB proposal, although Passan does include the note that the plan proposes two years of “expanded playoffs,” likely adding two additional teams.

Importantly, the proposal includes a plan through which players can opt out of playing the season. This provides two paths with players who are deemed medically “high risk,” Chicago Cubs cancer survivors Jon Lester and Anthony Rizzo, for example, would be able to opt out while still receiving their salary. Players who opt out from what is deemed an abundance of caution will only receive service time. Reporting did not include details on how this would be determined, but expect that to be a minor sticking point.

On the financial side, the proposal includes a big concession from players, offering to defer salaries if the 2020 MLB playoffs were to be cancelled. This addresses owner’s fears of a fall resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic leading to a renewed shutdown and shows that the players are at least willing to sit at a reasonable negotiating table.

For the players opting out: those who are considered "high-risk" would receive salary, whereas others would receive service time only.

Further, players would receive $100 million total advance during the new spring training.

Also: MLBPA proposes two years of playoff expansion.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 1, 2020

And on the fun side of things, Passan provided details that the players are proposing broadcast enhancements to make up for the lack of fans for on-air experiences, including an expansion of players who are wearing microphones during the game. The All-Star Game and Home Run Derby are also included in the package with a late-Summer date to be determined. Labor Day weekend seems like a pretty strong fit for an End-Summer Classic.

While everything is seemingly going wrong and the nation burns around us, it would be nice to pick up an extremely minor win. Here’s hoping that sanity and reason prevail over greed and spite, and the owners and players get this locked in this week. We need you, MLB. Make a deal. Play ball.

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MLBPA Proposal Details

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