NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball players have moved toward teams but remained far apart economically in their latest proposal for starting the pandemic-delayed season, adamant they receive full prorated salaries while offering to cut the regular season to 89.
The proposal by the players’ association, given to Major League Baseball electronically Tuesday evening without a negotiating session, was detailed to The Associated Press by a pair of people familiar with the negotiations.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcements have been authorized.
MLB did not appear to view the proposal as productive but made no comment.
MLB has said that absent an agreement it could go ahead with a shorter schedule of perhaps 50 games.
Players made their move one day after management cut its proposed schedule from 82 games to 76.
The union proposed the regular season start July 10 and end Oct. 11, and it accepted MLB’s plan to expand the postseason from 10 teams to as many as 16.
The union’s plan would have the World Series end in mid-to-late November, and players said they would accept MLB’s proposal to have the ability to shift postseason games to neutral sites.
But players insist on full prorated salaries as specified in the March 26 agreement between the perpetually feuding sides.
MLB says that because the season likely would be played in empty ballparks without fans, the absence of gate-related revenue would lead to a loss of $640,000 for each additional game played, a figure the union questions.
Players had been set to earn about $4 billion in salaries this year before opening day was pushed back from March 26 due to the new coronavirus, and the union’s initial economic proposal on May 31 called for a 114-game schedule running through October and salaries totaling $2.8 billion. The shorter schedule in the new plan lowered the amount to about $2.2 billion.
MLB’s offer Monday was for just under $1.3 billion in salaries, but only about $1 billion would be guaranteed. The rest is contingent on the postseason’s completion.
A 50-game schedule with prorated salaries would total just over $1.2 billion.
Teams say they fear a second wave of the coronavirus and do not want to extend the World Series past October.