Report: MLB Players Union 'Quickly Scoffed At' Owners' Latest Proposal
BOSTON (CBS) -- Will Major League Baseball play in 2020? It's still not known. But the picture looks increasingly grim with each day of new reporting.
The latest news came from ESPN's Jeff Passan, who reported on the latest offer from the owners. The details of that matter much less than the reaction from the MLB Players Association.
"Players and officials at the MLB Players Association quickly scoffed at the proposal, continuing the gridlock that has prevented MLB from returning after a coronavirus-related delay to the beginning of its season," Passan reported.
That news comes after Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic wrote this:
A canceled season still seems unthinkable, but failing to make the July 4 opening also seemed unthinkable, and here we are. As one player agent put it Thursday, "If this was a marriage, it would be a divorce." The parties indeed act like a couple about to split, talking at each other instead of to each other, recycling the same arguments, stubbornly insisting the other is wrong. They are trapped in their relationship, trapped by their respective histories. And the perception of the game suffers.
Bob Nightengale characterized the players' reaction to the latest offer as a step in the wrong direction.
The #MLBPA considers #MLB's latest offer a "step backwards''. They guaranteed 50% pay with possibility of earning 75% prorated salary. Also in proposal, per @karlravechespn, 76-game season, playoff money and no draft pick compensation for free agency.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) June 8, 2020
Clearly, things are as bad as ever, thus making the prospect of a season taking place in 2020 seem unlikely.
For what it's worth, the owners' latest proposal to the players offered them 75 percent of their prorated salaries over a 76-game season.
Every day that goes by without an agreement, the length of the season drops. And after hearing from players already about this proposal, the prospect of a 48-game season is looking likelier. They've been asked to respond by Wednesday, according to sources.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 8, 2020
Passan went on to say that a high-ranking baseball official confidently declared "There will be baseball." How that comes to fruition remains anyone's guess.