Players association responds to MLB: Set a schedule, ‘tell us when and where’
Rather than counter MLB’s latest proposal to return to play, the players association rejected it, asking the league to set a 2020 schedule and tell the players “when and where.”
“Further dialogue with the league would be futile,” the end of the MLBPA’s statement read. “It’s time to get back to work. Tell us when and where.”
Here is the full statement:
MLB is permitted to set a schedule based on the March agreement. The owners have made clear during negotiations that they will pay 100 percent prorated salaries only in a drastically shortened season of 50 or so games.
The players have held out for full prorated pay, as they believed they had agreed to in that March agreement. The owners have argued that the March guarantee of full prorated salaries was contingent on fans being in stands.
The league has since sent the players associations multiple variations of the same general offer – 100 percent prorated pay in a very short season, a lower percentage of prorated pay over a longer season, a sliding scale of pay for different tiers of players. All have been swiftly rejected. The players have little incentive to play 70 games or 80 games if they would be making the same money in 50 games. MLB’s latest proposal was said to offer players slightly more postseason money if the postseason is completed.
Per multiple national reports, the MLBPA plans to file a grievance after the league imposes a schedule, arguing that the league did not make its best efforts to play as many games as possible. The league’s rationale for a shorter season is that meaningful sums of money will be lost with each additional game.
The MLBPA’s response came on the same day it was reported that the league had reached an agreement with Turner Sports on a billion-dollar deal to renew playoff broadcasting rights. According to the NY Post, the previous agreement was worth $350 million per season.
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