Owners Vote to Hold M.L.B. Season After Players Reject Latest Offer

“Needless to say, we are disappointed by this development,” Manfred said in a statement. “The framework provided an opportunity for M.L.B. and its players to work together to confront the difficulties and challenges presented by the pandemic.”

The union’s rejection, Manfred said, means that many items included in the proposal — expanded playoffs, a universal designated hitter, 104 percent of prorated salaries, $25 million from a playoff pool and $33 million in forgiven salary advances — would not be in place in 2020. There also will be no advertising patches on uniforms, a provision that was also in the proposal.

The owners continually pushed for a shorter schedule because they would lose revenue by staging regular-season games without fans in attendance while the pandemic continues, and players did not budge from their demand for full prorated pay, which many of the owners’ proposals did not include. The players’ last proposal was for 70 games, and the owners would not consider it.

However many games Manfred imposes, the union seems likely to file a grievance seeking substantial payouts to players, on the grounds that the league negotiated in bad faith. The union would have had to drop its right to litigation as a condition of the proposal it rejected on Monday, a concession they viewed as too great, because Manfred was likely to implement a truncated schedule either way.

“The full Board reaffirmed the players’ eagerness to return to work as soon and as safely as possible,” the union said in a statement. “To that end we anticipate finalizing a comprehensive set of health and safety protocols with Major League Baseball in the coming days, and we await word from the league on the resumption of spring training camps and a proposed 2020 schedule.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/22/sports/baseball/mlb-season-schedule-vote.html