May 27th, 2020 at 10:15 am 
by Ron Cervenka As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise at an alarming rate in Los Angeles County – and the entire country – with projections that it will only get worse before it gets better, the last thing – the very last thing – we need right now is an ugly dispute between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association … the very last thing. Yet by all indications, this is exactly where we are headed.
On Tuesday, MLB submitted its first official proposal to the Players Association for a COVID-19-modified payroll structure, which was met with a resounding ‘No’ from one of the wealthiest unions on the planet.
Per ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers, the sliding scale proposed to the union by MLB:
“…would see the game’s league-minimum players would be paid about $262K of their would-be $563,500 salaries – roughly 46 percent (owners surely prefer to portray it as 92 percent of their prorated salaries in an 82-game season). The game’s top stars would be earning just over 22 percent of their full-season salary (44 percent of their prorated salaries). Many see the scale as an effort to create a divide within the union (lesser-paid players versus well-compensated stars).”
As expected, MLBPA chief Tony Clark immediately fired back at MLB’s proposal:
“That the league is trying to take advantage of a global health crisis to get what they’ve failed to achieve in the past. And to anonymously negotiate through the media for the last several days suggests they know exactly how this will be received.
“None of this is beneficial to the process of finding a way for us to safely get back on the field and resume the 2020 season, which continues to be our sole focus.”
(Photo credit – Denny Medley)
Early indications are that this is not going to end well, as noted on Twitter by MLB Network’s Jon Heyman:
Stay tuned…
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The owners presented the Players Association with a posturing proposal knowing full well that it would not be accepted, and the union’s response was a text book negotiating tactic. Neither the owners, nor the union want negotiations to reach an impasse that results in 2020 season canceled. The collective bargaining process is often painstakingly slow, especially for interested observers who just want the parties to get to the bottom line asap, but I have no doubt that they will reach an agreement for a 2020 season.
Exactly, that’s the very last thing we need right now.
I hope they can make an effort to get a better deal for both parties before June 10.
Just what we don’t need…
A corona virus graph with misinterpreted commentary on a baseball article. That graph is akin to seeing counting stats without ABs or PAs as a point of reference. Speaking of misinterpretation, John Heyman points out the obvious that the PA will not accept their first offer, pretty much no matter what that offer is. They submitted that offer with plenty of time to negotiate.
SoCalBum has the correct take. I would take the under on an agreement being reached before June 5.
Nothing has changed, didn’t think it would,let’s see what’s next?
It looks like my prediction of a 60-40 chance of baseball getting back is lowered to 50-50.