There has been “no evidence of progress” in the discussions between MLB and the MLBPA as the two sides negotiate the economic provisions of a potential 2020 season, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network. As such, there’s no reason to believe the parties will reach an agreement ahead of the “soft” June 1 deadline.
That said, Heyman adds that there’s still hope to begin the season on the weekend of July 4 as intended, though for that to become a reality the two sides will need to come to an agreement in the next ten or so days. Heyman cites June 5-9 as the target dates for a deal.
In a later Tweet, Heyman states that despite the lack of progress in negotiations, there seems to be a prevailing sense of optimism that ultimately a deal will be reached; both players and owners recognize the steep consequences that a cancelled season could have for the sport. Frankly, there’s too much to lose if the parties can’t find common ground, and such an outcome would certainly cause considerable short- and long-term damage to MLB.
After the owners submitted their economic proposal on Tuesday, the players came away thoroughly dissatisfied with their side of the deal, namely taking issue with the sliding scale pay cuts that would further reduce player salaries. It’s also been reported that players are also in favor of a season with 100 games or more, up from the 82 proposed by MLB. However, given the league’s insistence on wrapping up the regular season by October 1 for various reasons—as reported by Heyman—that scenario seems far-fetched.
While it’s encouraging to hear that there’s optimism that the two sides can iron out their differences and arrive at a compromise, the fact remains that time is running out; if Independence Day is to remain a realistic target date, there’s just about a week to reach an agreement. After that point, the feasibility of a substantial season begins to decline.
Needless to say, both sides will need to make concessions in order to ensure a 2020 season is played. And with the negotiating parties still far apart, it might be a big ask to close that gap in short order. For the time being, we’ll wait with bated breath to see if the players and owners can find common ground.
Too many owners are willing to punt on the season so there won’t be one
No, the players will realize they have too much to lose (their entire 2020 salary) and will ultimately succumb to most of the owners’ demands for a season.
Not just their 2020 salary. But if you don’t play than owners have a good excuse not spend a dime this upcoming offseason.
So you might have to wait until fa 2022 to get those desirable contracts.
They were already paid a prorated portion through May and there is already a deal in place.
The owners simply want a better deal.
Still not true no matter how many times you post it. Good faith discussion should no fans be at games seems like a fair point by the owners and is in that agreement.
This isn’t debatable. There is in fact a deal in place, regardless of clauses that are left for interpretation and the players have in fact received a prorated salary through the end of the month.
Thank you commissioner.
I would love to know which teams are willing to punt the season and which teams aren’t. Do you have a link to your claims? Would love to read how you know there’s more teams wanting to cancel the season then not. Thanks 🙂
Buster Olney of ESPN said it this morning in a story but he didn’t name names.
MLBTR included it in its previous post…..
I also saw Olney on ESPN this morning and he did say that more owners than not are willing to punt on the season if need be
I feel they leak these ideas saying owners are willing to punt in order to scare the players into playing for fear of not getting paid at all
What the hell are you talking about? There has been ZERO reports of that being the prevailing feeling. The owners have more to lose than the players, do you know what a missed season and CBA strike would do to their team value (which is for the majority of the owners, their largest asset). Especially seeing as a large percentage of these teams are owned on some variation of debt tied to TV revenue.
Please stop saying inflammatory troll things unless you have evidence.
Can the players afford to strike after not playing in 2020?
You might as well ask if anyone can afford wars. Just because nobody can afford them doesn’t mean they aren’t going to happen.
Players lose more in reality
No MLB this year. I hope the fans come back. They lost a lot of fans after the 1994 strike.
A problem they “fixed” by allowing PED use to run rampant.
Too much greed on both sides. You guys need to wake up & figure it out before it’s to late. Take a look around you, fans need sports now more than ever. The average fan ( some who have lost work) is going to walk away from MLB.
Agree 100% Laker. Used to be you could always count on baseball. The game is clearly in the wrong hands on both sides. The world as we’ve known it I’m afraid is gone. On several fronts…
I will be greatly surprised if we have a season. The owners proposal,shows how little they want one.
Who cares!! I’m over it. Play, don’t play… I’m tired of these 2 sides fighting like children.
If you were over it you wouldn’t be here commenting.
But then how would we know that he’s over it?
Logic!
It’s disappointing to see how unwilling both sides are to compromise. No one wins with an entire season cancelled, and there will be a lot of bitter fans as a result. Both sides need to be rational and work together in good faith to find a middle ground. Anyone blaming one side exclusively is being willfully ignorant of the situation.
After June 20 it’s no longer Spring training.
Summer training?
We could call it Spummer Training, even though what we call Spring Training takes actually place almost entirely in the winter.
at some point these two sides need to go to arbitration to settle their money differences and get going
I miss baseball, but Islanders playoff hockey, the PGA Tour and pre-season football is on the way to take care of my sports itch.
People who say “just cancel the season” but profess to be lovers of baseball are either lying about one or the other.
Not true. There are over 100,000 dead with the virus, horrible riots, millions unemployed, and you see millionaires battling billionaires, and giving fans and more importantly people like vendors and small business that depend on baseball the finger. They have the right to love baseball, but at the same time, be fed up with the bs. If there is no season, I do not know if I will be back when it returns.
Don’t forget the coming hurricane season. Going
to be a big one!
What BS? This is a corporation where employees with a time limited career are fighting for whats in their contracts. Owners with equity capture all the upside without having to relatively distribute the excess, why are they negotiating the down like theyre heroes?
I can honestly say if my home team didnt interest me right now and went into rebuild tank mode id have no problem not watching baseball till the playoffs…..and even then, with a loose eye. I imagine many people feel the same and with soo many tanking teams that means MLB has fans fall off every day with not as many new customers loading the Bus
It has nothing to do with I dont Love baseball, I still play in the Beer leagues at 38 every Sun morn, on 5 hrs sleep, driving an Hr each way. People have other choices and with a whole lot less toxic behavior attached. The NBA is probably going to start later (X-Mas) and go deeper into summer now overlapping MLB and taking even more viewers as well. From there the baton is shorter to NFL preseason. Their going to need more than the “Love of the Game” moving forward to keep fans interest
Exactly. Many if not most will not come back. Which is why the sport NEEDS to play in 2020 under safe conditions of course.
I dont think I will be able to take the results of this season seriously. It would be nice to watch a game right now but I would be ok with skipping the season.
You realize what that means don’t you? The likely demise of this great sport as we know it.
Is this comment a joke?
There have been a lot of comments comparing MLB to the NHL and NBA. Remember the NBA and NHL have already completed 80% or so of their regular seasons while MLB never started. So the financial situation is not as dire. Also the NHL and NBA plans are still just contingency plans and have yet to be formally approved by the players. Don’t expect the players in either sport to rubber stamp any owners proposal to resume play. And even if/when these sports resume, all it will take is one positive test for the COVID virus and we are back to square 1. So really, all the fans talk of players and/or owners being greedy seems counter productive, since who knows when it will be safe to resume play in any sport. We have already gone over 2 months without any live sports. Don’t expect things to return to normal anytime soon. A wait and see attitude is probably the best strategy at this point
And just wait until that beloved coach, player or family member gets sick and dies and people start saying
“why did we do this?”
Using that logic, since the NHL and NBA have made most of their money wouldn’t it be easier for them to stay home and be safe? MLB players will walk away with nothing if they don’t play…..
The agreement to prorate pay this year combines with the players hard line in current negotiations to make cancellation the only real option.
Owners probably save more with a cancelled season and no player payroll than any of the options the players will accept.
Pack it in and try again next year.
I attended a mass gathering yesterday in LA, at least 10k people. There’s massive protests happening all over the country right now. If we all don’t get this thing in the next two weeks, I don’t see why there couldnt be fans in the seats come July or August at the latest. On other hand, if we do get sick, not only will there be no baseball but we’re in even deeper trouble as a country.
honestly at the rate at which things are opening i dont see why you cant have at least some percentage of seats available by August. i doubt you get full stadiums any time soon, but there is reason to believe you can at least get some stadium revenue this season, and the lack of seats available may encourage seat price rises to cover losses, which may work in favor of a deal here from the perspective of the owners.
what do you think 10-20% of normal attendance does for anyone?
Does it cover the lawsuits from people who claim baseball made them sick for one reason or another?
i mean im not a lawyer, but i wolnt say without a doubt that there is no level of caution at which you are safe from lawsuits. why are any other businesses different just because they are different business models? they precautions may be more and different, but there is probably a way, and these owners are evidently hungry for that stadium revenue.
One problem I see about having limited fans attend games, would be the logistical nightmare accommodating season ticket holders. In our section, every seat is sold as a season ticket, as well as many sections surrounding us. Maybe the clubs could figure it out, but it seems like a massive undertaking telling which season ticket holder which game they can and can’t attend.
well if they have no fans and less games they have an issue already, so this shouldn’t be that big of an issue. given they are likely already grappling with this issue. either give them all refunds or priority.
You’re probably right about them already grappling with this issue. As for the Rangers, my rep told me there will be no refunds, which is fine with me. It’s not like the money in the bank is earning anything right now. Just give me credit for next years season tickets
Market prices!
not really a shocker. they have time to get something done though.
Labor disputes are historically won by the side with deeper pockets. Unfortunately, the owners have taken a hard stance on negotiations. Either the MLBPA folds or there’s no season.
It’s a shame. Better leadership on both sides would’ve kept these negotiations private, knowing that arguing about money would turn off both old and potential new fans during times like this. It’s a missed chance for baseball to be the only big team sport available since March.
But then again, terrible TV deals likely would’ve prevented parts of America from even tuning into games (like myself).
This will put MLB more behind the NFL, behind the NBA, Possibly the NHL. Greedy owners and players let a nation down when they were needed. A pox on all of them. I will never spend another cent on anything MLB again if they don’t resolve this. I have found other things to do during this time and will just ignore these greedy idiots. I guess I should have figured this out when the players made Blake Snell, who has the intellect of Jethro Bodine, speak for them.
you must of missed what Scherzer said if you think Snell’s comments speak the loudest for the players.
I strongly recommend that neither side kill the golden goose, but…
I’ll be watching the Stanley Cup playoffs instead either way.
It’s May 31, they really went on a limb with no deal by June 1. And I’ll predict the weather… we will have a period of darkness tonight followed by light in the morning
Let’s say they make a deal and the season starts. What happens if a small market team legit can’t make payroll with incoming revenue?
then the owner sucks it up and takes a bit out of the billions they have in the bank.
Okay, all of that aside, what if a team doesn’t make payroll? Something has to happen. This was almost a thing with the Dodgers when McCourt owned the team. I think there was a thread of the Commissioner’s office taking over the team. I’m trying to imagine the logistics of the Commish taking over 3-4 teams and taxing the other teams to get the money.
greg. MLB guarantees the contracts and an owner could be forced to sell the team.
my comment stands. these guys are all billionaires and can suck it up. that’s the risk you run owning a business – you dont always profit.
That can’t happen. There is enough revenue from national and local revenue contracts to pay smaller market payrolls.
There is also revenue sharing, and a provision in the March agreement that lets MLB come up with a proposal.
They have lines of credit so that doesn’t ever happen.
If you look closely at the owners proposal., it effectively has the highest-paid players pay for the 65% of those who make under $1M. There are 47 players who earn $20M or more. They’ve already lost half their salaries. The owners want them to agree to give up more than 60% of the balance. Do the math. At the end of the day, every player will take a hit, but the lesser paid ones will be getting their bucks from the star in the adjoining locker.
Portions of contracts above $20M are paid at 10 cents on the dollar. 20 percent under the owners proposal, cut in half by being prorated over 82 games.
This proposal is so bad that nobody in their right mind could believe that it should be taken seriously.
Fans need to get the message across to owners, players and the commissioners office.
If you blow the 2020 season over money… we won’t be back in 2021.
Bingo!!!!
i dont go to games consistently anyway but im not protesting next year. if i have a chance to go to a game I will, as most probably will.
I say a pox on both of their houses.
The owners are billionaires, the players are millionaires.
Even the lowest paid make over $500,000 a year.
They say, “yeah, but their careers only last 4 years.”
They CAN get a job after baseball.
I remember Stan Musial sold life insurance.
Richie Hebner was a grave digger.
While America is going through the pandemic and national unrest, these greedy parties can’t find a way to get the game open? Where is their patriotism?
I played baseball from 7 to 58.
I love baseball.
But if they don’t start, I am gone.
Not coming back.
Came back after 2 strikes, not again.
Do what is best for America you greedy pigs.
You”ll be back.
He might……… but I bet he buys a hell of a lot less jerseys, caps, gameday tickets etc etc and that’s what really matters here in the end doesnt it
He doesnt have to sail the Pacific to have his footprint felt: massively at that relative to before….now multiply that out….
And to think theres a world where all this could be done behind closed doors?
Baseballs not in the position to call bluffs right now Darth
Way to make it to 58 BB !!! Awesome
58 BB? What is this?
Original poster said he played till he was 58 yrs old, Im assuming Beer Leagues which I thought was super cool
most if baseball doesnt care about baseball. no one who isnt a baseball fan will be moved by this. that’s a false narrative.
Nice job, giving the “hacker” his due….I still remember the pic & the story that ran in the Philly Enquirer about his off-season job!
Nothing but a bunch of spoiled billionaires and millionaires… all the crap the average American is dealing with right now and we have to see this nonsense go on. Baseball just burnt the last bridge it had. Put a fork in baseball. I hope they never play again. To hell with all of them.
I hope we can resume play soon so all of us on this site can get back to meaningful discussions like who sucks, who cheated, who’s a cheapskate owner, who dodging it, etc.
*dogging it
A 45 year Phillies fan here; grew up in the Carpenter/Ozark days and was stoked for this year’s team. They looked like a really good unit. Am a die hard fan, so I’m not going anywhere, but fear most of the fans will leave…..It seems these 2 sides just do not get it…..?
Am on mlbtr multiple times a day and a lot of what I read, minus the keyboard warriors, has merit……
I take my daughter each year when the Phillies visit the Cubs here in Chicago….Costs over 200$ for 2 of us AND we walk to Wrigley……The Blake Snells of the world deserve what the market will bear, but aren’t rooted in reality. Although I do not agree, it really is the owner’s show…..
I keep reading that baseball as we know it may not be coming back. But then I think of the Buster Posey rule and no sliding into the catcher, or the Chase Utley rule and no sliding into 2nd base, and probably soon is electronic home plate umpires and relief pitchers having to face 3 batters righties or lefties. Or MLB which cannot bring in PED’s has to bring in juiced balls like 2019. So it seems to me, baseball as I have known it for 66 years has already disappeared.
Imagine now, this season, if there is one, Yelich is up to the plate or Bellinger with the game on the line. “And there’s a drive into deep right field, back to the warning track, back to the wall, she is Gone!!!” and the stadium has a dead silence. No fans, no yelling, no huddles at home plate…
Baseball as we’ve known it may be gone already..
.