UNITED STATES— On May 31, the MLB Players Association presented the league with its counter-proposal about how to launch the 2020 season.
Details of the proposal included a 114-game regular season that would end on Halloween, an opt-out clause that would allow any player to sit out the season, and a potential deferral of 2020 salaries if the postseason was canceled. The season would begin on June 30, and an expanded playoff structure would be in place for both the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
Players would receive a $100MM salary advance during whatever type of training camp takes place this summer. This $100MM payment is similar to the $170MM advance payment that players received this past March as an advance on their 2020 salaries. As per a previous March agreement, the then $170MM salary would be all the players would receive in the event of a canceled 2020 season. Since both payments are an advance, the total $270MM would be factored into salaries received during any 2020 regular-season games.
A separate total of $100MM in salary would deferred in the event of a canceled 2020 postseason, with that $100MM coming from player contracts worth more than $10MM, before being prorated. This money would be deferred into two payments, scheduled for November 2021 and November 2022.
Players who are considered “high risk” candidates for COVID-19 would be able to opt out of playing this season while still receiving their entire prorated salaries. “High risk” designation also extends to players who have spouses, children, or other live-in family members with pre-existing health conditions. For those players who are not considered “high-risk” and choose to opt out of playing this season anyway, they will still receive service time but no salary.
The players similarly rejected the owners’ first proposal, so it is no surprise this new proposal was also rejected. MLB is now considering plans to resume the 2020 season, only without fans. Events like the All-Star Game or a Home Run Derby, which were scheduled to take place this season starting July 13 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, may now take place during the offseason or even the postseason.
