As other professional sports leagues announce return-to-play plans, Major League Baseball and the Players Association remain at odds over an economic plan for the 2020 regular season.
The two sides originally struck an agreement in March that guaranteed players full prorated salaries, but team owners have reopened negotiations due to the likelihood that fans won’t be able to attend games this year.
The union, adamant they won’t take further pay cuts, recently pitched a 114-game regular season to MLB that would allow players to earn full prorated salaries. Team owners declined, and they reportedly have no intention to submit a counter.
With nowhere else to turn, MLB is now looking into imposing a 50-to-60 game regular season without necessarily coming to an agreement. They are considering a much shorter campaign due to concerns of a potential second coronavirus wave this fall that could affect the postseason.
That frustrated Scott Boras, who noted other sports that will be playing this fall, via Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic:
“The NFL and college football – contact sports – could be playing in November, let alone December. MLB, a social distancing sport, says it can’t play playoffs in November. Apparently the NFL and NCAA medical experts think differently.”
A contact sport such as football would presumably put players at a greater risk of contracting COVID-19, but the NFL and NCAA for now have continued to operate as though games will be held in the coming months.
MLB has made it clear they don’t want the 2020 campaign extending into November, as a second wave of coronavirus could potentially jeopardize the postseason — and thus lead to significant financial losses in the form of national media revenue.
Though MLB and the union are struggling to find common ground on a financial plan, they are said to be much closer to finalizing health and safety protocols for a 2020 season.
Meanwhile, this is now a second time Boras has recently taken aim at MLB. He isn’t far removed from imploring players to take a stand against owners and their claims of record financial losses.
It’s also noteworthy that in April, the mega agent assembled a plan that called for the World Series to be played as late as Christmas Day.
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