As the NBA moves forward with its plans to resume the 2019-’20 season, Major League Baseball encountered another hurdle on Wednesday that could prevent fans from seeing a 2020 baseball season.
Just days after the MLB Players’ Association submitted a proposal for a 114-game season, the plan was rejected by MLB owners in the latest step of an ugly back-and-forth battle.
MLB rejects proposal for 114-game season
According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, MLB’s team owners rejected the expanded plan for a 114-game season. Furthermore, the league now doesn’t plan to send a potential counterproposal to the players’ union that would provide guidelines for player safety and outline a financial plan for the season.
MLB originally proposed an 82-game season with a financial landscape that would require some players to receive more than a 70% pay cut on their salary for the 2020 season. The offer was almost immediately rejected by the players’ union, which then demanded MLB release its financial records to prove the looming financial hardships the league has claimed.
Owners suggested the league will lose $4 billion if players receive prorated salaries, which was agreed to in March, and fans can’t attend games. Under the MLBPA’s proposal, it would have cost the owners even more money, if their financial claims are accurate.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, MLB is now discussing a shorting schedule with the players’ union. The 2020 MLB season would consist of around a 50-game schedule starting in July with players receiving prorated salaries.
Given some owners are willing to shut down baseball for the entire year, it seems increasingly unlikely that there will be a 2020 MLB season.