Report: MLB players to make economics counter that effectively ignores owners proposal

Major League Baseball owners presented an economics proposal on Tuesday that has been publicly panned by members of the players’ union leadership team. Several players tweeted disappointment with it, and Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer tweeted there was no reason to engage with the owners in any further compensation reductions.

The players are working on a counter-proposal, and according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, it will effectively ignore the owners proposal and offer their own idea on how this should proceed. Passan is reporting the counter will call for 100 games (to the owners 82) and include a guarantee of full prorated salaries for the 2020 season.

In March, the players and owners agreed to prorated salaries in a universal deal meant to be implemented if the season could restart. However, there have been numerous reports of the deal including language for good faith negotiations if games could not include fans.

If that language is accurate, the players’ issue at this point would appear to be based on the proof of economic losses. The players requested documents from the owners to prove economic distress, and by all accounts are not happy with the extent of the proof provided. Passan is reporting the players, “recently submitted additional document requests to the league in search of information about local television revenue, national television revenue, sponsorship revenue and projections from teams.”

The owners have been pushing for a restart in the first week of July, but that reportedly would require a deal be done in the next week or so.