Major League Baseball has given up on a deal with the players union and is reportedly set to schedule a 60-game season.
Major League Baseball owners voted Monday to move forward with a 2020 season without reaching agreement with the MLB Players Association. In a statement, the league said it would proceed under the terms of its March 26 agreement with the union, which allows commissioner Rob Manfred to set a schedule unilaterally.
According to multiple reports Monday, Manfred will implement a 60-game schedule, the same number as in the league’s final proposal. The schedule, which would reportedly begin around July 24-26, still requires the union to green-light the league’s health and safety protocols and a report date of July 1.
Manfred first proposed a 60-game season last week in a face-to-face meeting with union executive director Tony Clark. While the Manfred and the owners thought they had a done deal, Clark and the union viewed the talks differently and countered with a 70-game plan. The league rejected that offer. Monday’s decision came after a last-ditch effort by Manfred to get the players on board with 60 games.
Had the league and union reached agreement on a 60-game season, it would have included an expanded postseason of 16 teams. Instead, the postseason will remain in its usual 10-team format. An agreement would have also included a pledge by the union not to file a grievance alleging bad faith on the part of owners. That possibility remains on the table.
From the beginning of the talks, MLB had sought either a season of moderate length in which players would be paid part of their prorated salary, or a short season in which they were paid all of their pro rata. The league originally proposed an 82-game season that would have begun at some point in the next two weeks, but the players were adamant on receiving all of their pro rated salary. By the time owners backed off of that demand, enough time had passed that only a short season was possible. The players had initially sought as many as 114 games this season.
Should MLB return on or around July 24, it would begin its season nearly a week before the NBA and NHL are expected to resume.
