Report: Season around 50 games being considered as ‘last resort’ by MLB
Jun 1, 2020, 7:49 PM
Grounds crew members mow as work continues to keep the Seattle Mariners' field in playing shape as the ballpark goes into its seventh week without baseball played because of the coronavirus outbreak, Monday, May 11, 2020, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
With Major League Baseball continuing to not create forward momentum toward beginning the 2020 season during the coronavirus pandemic, it has discussed a last-ditch plan.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that MLB has considered a season around 50 games long as a “last resort.” Passan notes this is not something the league plans to pitch to the players, but that it is something MLB wants as an option in case both sides continue to not come to an agreement.
Those games would start sometime in July and see members of the MLB Players Association paid their full prorated salaries.
Passan reports some resistance from players to the idea of cutting down on games that severely.
Multiple players told ESPN they would not abide a shorter schedule, with one saying, “We want to play more games and they want to play less. We want more baseball.”
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This follows players proposing a 114-game regular season Sunday, up from 82 in management’s offer, but with no additional pay cuts beyond the one they agreed to in March.
In the players’ proposal, a player would receive about 70% of his salary under the union plan. MLB’s offer Tuesday included a sliding scale in which those at the $563,500 minimum would get about 47% and those at the top — led by Mike Trout and Gerrit Cole at $36 million — would receive less than 23%.
The Associated Press contributed to this story
