The Major League Baseball Players Association made a counteroffer to MLB's most recent proposal Tuesday, but the owners are expected to shoot it down quickly.
However, it is considered a step in the right direction, offering some hope that the two sides might be able to strike a deal at some point and save the season.
The MLBPA's offer, which reduces the number of games this season from 114 to 89 while insisting on full prorated salaries, was first reported by Jeff Passan of ESPN.
The MLBPA is making a proposal to MLB for a season of around 89 games with a full prorated share of salary and expanded playoffs, sources familiar with the situation told ESPN. It would bring the sides closer to a potential deal and is ~25 games under the last union offer.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 9, 2020
The season would run from July 10 to Oct. 11 under the player's proposal, meaning they would play 89 games over 93 calendar days.
Yesterday, the owners offered to pay players 75-percent of their prorated salaries over a 76-game season.
In their most recent offers, the MLBPA proposed to play a 114-game season, while owners countered with a season that would be roughly 50 games. These last two offers indicate both sides are coming closer on the number of games to be played. However, this progress may be for naught if a deal isn't struck soon and there are fewer calendar days to work with for a potential season.
The union also agreed to potentially expand the playoffs to 16 teams for this year, which was part of MLB's latest offer.
Under full prorated salaries, players would receive about 70-percent of their original regular season salaries in a 114-game season and 55-percent in an 89-game season.
There are two major roadblocks remaining, though. Players are insistent that they should not take another paycut beyond prorated salaries, with owners responding the only way that will happen is in a drastically shortened season, roughly 48-54 games. Owners also do not want to play games into November, meaning the regular season would have to be over by Sept. 27. In the March agreement between the league and union, both sides agreed to potentially extend the season into October or November, but owners are worried that an expected second wave of COVID-19 in November could jeopardize the playoffs.
To continue reading, log into your account:
