Every time a new proposal is swapped between MLB and the MLBPA, it seems to come with another reminder of just how toxic the relationship is between the two entities.
A letter sent to the MLBPA along with the league’s latest proposal to resume play includes several biting passages written by deputy commissioner Dan Halem. Perhaps the sharpest shot comes in the very first paragraph, directed at MLBPA negotiator Bruce Meyer.
“I must have misinterpreted your June 6th letter,” Halem writes in the letter obtained by Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic. “I thought the letter reflected a willingness on the part of the Association to discuss in good faith the economics necessary for the Office of the Commissioner to waive its right under the March Agreement to resume the 2020 season only when there are, among other things, no restrictions on fan access. After reviewing the Association’s counterproposal, I stand corrected.”
Halem further asserts that the players’ narrative about further pay cuts is invalid, stating that commissioner Rob Manfred had the right to suspend all contracts after President Trump’s national emergency declaration in March. Halem states that the league has been involved in “a negotiation with ourselves” due to the players’ refusal to take any less than their full pro-rated salaries. He further accuses the MLBPA of going back on their end of the March agreement the two sides made, arguing that they have taken advantage of what has been afforded them while not giving anything back to the league.
The actual proposal, which still does not include full pro-rated salaries and is likely to be rejected, does not appear until page three.
This is not going to get better. These two sides genuinely do not trust each other, and the attitude of some players toward the owners is every bit as negative as the league’s letter here is. The longer this goes, the more likely it looks that everyone involved will simply have to settle for a 50-game season, which isn’t long enough to definitively decide anything.
