MLB players reject latest offer, want schedule set

The Major League Baseball Players Association asked MLB to set a schedule for the 2020 season rather than counter the latest return-to-play proposal by the league, setting the stage for MLB to implement a significantly shortened schedule and deepening the labor strife between the parties.

In a statement Saturday night, MLBPA executive director Tony Clark rejected MLB’s latest proposal and said: “Further dialogue with the league would be futile. It’s time to get back to work. Tell us when and where.”

Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark today released the following statement: pic.twitter.com/d1p3Oj4K70

— MLBPA Communications (@MLBPA_News) June 13, 2020

A March agreement between the parties allows MLB to set a schedule, and the league has suggested that in the absence of a negotiated agreement with the union it could impose a schedule of somewhere between 48 and 55 games.

Should MLB implement a schedule, the union is expected to file a grievance that the league did not fulfill its obligation to play the most games possible, sources told ESPN. The March agreement says the league should use “best efforts to play as many games as possible, while taking into account player safety and health, rescheduling needs, competitive considerations, stadium availability, and the economic feasibility of various alternatives.”

MLB has said it will lose billions of dollars this season and even more if it plays without fans in the stands, leading to its proposals that players take a cut off the prorated portion of their salaries. The union has sought financial information to validate the league’s projections and said the documentation provided by the league has not sufficiently backed up the numbers.

The union has held firm at full pro rata pay, citing the March agreement. MLB interprets the agreement differently, believing that the language in it allows for a negotiation on pay if games are played with no fans in the stands.