It’s been talked about for a little while now, but it looks like Major League Baseball may be taking a huge step in the direction that may lead to a long awaited 2020 season. MLB owners have approved a proposal to begin the 2020 season and are expected to present the plans to the Players Union shortly. According to a few reports, some notable factors of the proposal include an 82 game regular season, the two league, six division outline will remain but teams will only play teams within their division or corresponding geographical division teams (i.e. Mets and Yankees will only play teams within the NL East and AL East), a 14 team playoff system with an extra wild card round and the implementation of a universal DH.
What’s probably the biggest piece in the proposal is the MLB’s motion for a revenue-sharing agreement for the 2020 season. From my understanding, the revenue sharing is considered a “non-starter” for MLBPA President, Tony Clark, and company as the union had an already agreed upon structure that players understood their salaries would be prorated in 2020. Clark also expressed that this revenue-sharing structure is essentially a salary cap, which the Players’ Union strongly opposes.
Honestly, I get a very strong sense that this proposal will be rejected before the Union reads the second page. In March, the league and the union had an agreed upon structure that would prorate the player’s salaries for this upcoming season. Now, with this proposal, they want to toss that and go with revenue sharing. Rob Manfred and the owners are seemingly doing whatever they can to protect themselves from losing too much money and not care about the effects it has on the players. Because of this, I wouldn’t be surprised if the union rejects the proposal. Why should players take an even bigger pay cut to cover the losses ownership will take? The prorated salaries were agreed upon and the owners and Commissioner’s office are trying to pull a fast one here.
In terms of the on-field rules proposed, I can make due with it. 82 games is better than zero. Strictly playing teams in your geographical region is totally doable and the universal DH gets a trial run before we see its imminent full time arrival. Fans may not be in the stadium, but it can still make for a damn good “season”. Again, that’s not going to be why the Union rejects the proposal. Players are ready to get back on the field, but not take a larger-than-agreed-upon pay cut.
One thing I know to be true is that the country is missing its sports. We need something to take our mind off the fact that we may not know when this whole Coronavirus will actually come to an end. Of course, it’s important that the players and others also remain safe during this pandemic and I’m sure the proposal states a lot of necessary safety measures. Let’s hope that by week’s end, we see that little silver lining that is Major League Baseball in 2020, but let’s not dust off our jerseys just yet. If an agreed upon plan isn’t in place over the next few weeks, we’ll be waiting for the start of the 2021 season.
