Major League Baseball’s team owners agreed to a plan on Monday that would see players receive 50 percent of whatever revenue the league makes during the 2020 season, but the proposal is almost certain to be shot down by the MLB Players Association. As expected, top baseball agent Scott Boras is also opposed to the idea.
The proposal from team owners calls for an 82-game season that will begin in July, according to a report from Bob Nightengale of USA Today. While the MLB and MLB Players Association agreed back in March to prorate player salaries based on the number of games that are played, the new proposal says a 50-50 revenue share makes more sense given the financial blow of having to play games in empty ballparks. Boras said Monday that the owners were not previously concerned about empty ballparks and are just trying to back out of the original deal.
“The players I represent are unified in that they reached an agreement and they sacrificed anywhere from 30 to 40 percent of their salaries so that the games could amicably continue,” Boras told Sports Illustrated’s Stephanie Apstein. “The owners represented during that negotiation that they could operate without fans in the ballpark. Based on that, we reached an agreement and there will not be a renegotiation of that agreement.”
Boras doesn’t have to worry about the deal being accepted, as MLBPA executive director Tony Clark has already ripped the proposal and accused MLB of “trying to take advantage of a global health crisis to get what they’ve failed to achieve in the past,” which is a salary cap.
It seemed that MLB and its players had a solid agreement in place for an uncertain season when the original deal was reached, but clearly there are many more hurdles to clear. There were already reports that players are furious over the concessions team owners are demanding, and the situation appears to be on the verge of getting ugly.
