Only three days after a face-to-face meeting reignited optimism that the two sides could find common ground, negotiations again appear over between Major League Baseball and the Players Association, two parties whose bickering continues to diminish the sport’s public perception.
The league will not counter the union’s proposal for a 70-game regular season, MLBPA chief Tony Clark said in a statement Friday night.
Owners brought the framework for a 60-game regular season to the union Wednesday. The difference between a 60- and 70-game season at full prorated salaries is around $275 million — or about $9 million per team. Logically, the two could meet in the middle, but such rational thinking does not exist in this sport.
“MLB has informed the association it will not respond to our latest proposal and will not play more than 60 games,” Clark said. “Our executive board will convene in the near future to determine next steps. Importantly, players remain committed to getting back to work as soon as possible.”
Where this stalemate leads is anyone’s guess. The two sides are so steeped in longstanding distrust and disdain, they cannot agree on anything, even things they’ve already supposedly agreed on.
Manfred and Clark met Tuesday in Phoenix for four hours, reviving hope that the season might be salvaged. That hope was dashed two days later.
Owners assumed the 60-game season the two men spoke about was a deal in place. Players thought otherwise, countering with a 70-game proposal Thursday.
“It is unequivocally false to suggest that any tentative agreement or other agreement was reached in that meeting,” Clark said in a statement Thursday. “In fact, in conversations within the last 24 hours, Rob invited a counterproposal for more games that he would take back to the owners.”
The union’s proposed 70-game season offers players around $1.73 billion in salaries and $50 million in a playoff bonus pool if the postseason is completed without issue. The league’s 60-game proposal includes about $1.48 billion in salaries and a $25 million postseason pool, according to the Associated Press.
Manfred still has the authority to impose a shortened season — somewhere around 50 games — in the absence of an agreement.
Owners have reiterated a desire to end the regular season in September and hold the playoffs as scheduled in October. Players have proposed expanded playoffs in both 2020 and 2021 as part of their 70-game offer.
Players could vote on the 60-game season that Manfred and Clark constructed in their meeting, but part of that agreement waives the union’s right to file a grievance against the league. Should Manfred implement a season, a grievance from the union is expected, leading to the same legal bickering that’s plagued this sport throughout the past two months.
chandler.rome@chron.com
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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/texas-sports-nation/astros/article/MLB-owners-won-t-counter-players-offer-of-15353618.php
2020-06-20 00:58:44Z
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