A deal between MLB and the MLBPA to hold a 2020 season is reportedly not yet close, but the latest proposal marks 'significant progress' in negotiations
MLB has sent a new proposal to the MLB Players Association in regards to holding a 2020 season, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. No deal has yet been made.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and MLBPA executive director Tony Clark met face-to-face in Arizona and had a "productive" meeting on Tuesday, as first reported by MLB Network's Jon Heyman. The gathering, which was reportedly requested by Manfred, represented "significant progress" made in negotiations between the two parties, per Passan.
Reports of a new offer from MLB surfaced moments after Heyman tweeted that the league and players were “closing in on an agreement to play the 2020 season" with prorated pay and an expanded playoff format. He added that in the "pending agreement," the players' union agreed to waive any grievances.
These could be the terms of MLB's offer to the players, though how close the two sides are to an agreement is not yet known. A report from The Athletic's Evan Drellich contradicts Heyman's on a pending agreement, saying no deal "is close" between MLB and the MLBPA and that there is no deal "in principle" at this point.
MLB's latest proposal comes days after Manfred said he was "not confident" a season would take place this year. Many MLB players have called for the league to set parameters for a season after negotiations between the two parties did not gain traction.
The MLBPA recently denied a proposal from the league that included a 72-game season to begin on July 14 with 70% prorated salaries for the regular season and 80% if the postseason is completed. The players' union, which has been reluctant to accept an additional pay cut of players' per-game rate of salaries in negotiations with MLB, said it did not plan to submit another counter-proposal to the league.
MLB players have deferred to an agreement between the union and the league from March 26 that states MLB has the authority to unilaterally set the schedule. According to SI's Tom Verducci, a variation of this schedule includes a season of 48 games with players receiving 100% pay on a prorated basis with a regular season that would begin on Aug. 3 and end on Sept. 27.
Before expressing lost confidence in having a season, Manfred told ESPN's Karl Ravech on June 10 that baseball would "100%" be played in 2020.