MLB owners sending latest plan to MLBPA that includes sliding pay scale for players
by The Associated Press
PHOENIX — Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association began negotiations Tuesday afternoon for the first time on key economic issues in an attempt to open the season by the weekend of July 4.
MLB owners had approved a plan earlier Tuesday and were presenting it to the union. The plan, three people with knowledge of the proposal told USA TODAY Sports, does not include the same 50-50 revenue-sharing split the owners agreed on two weeks ago that was never submitted to the union. The three spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity since they were not authorized to speak publicly due to ongoing negotiations.
The proposal instead includes a sliding scale of compensation, guaranteeing players a percentage of their salary during different intervals of the season, while also including a larger share of postseason money. The players earning the highest salaries would be taking the biggest cuts, while those earning the least amount of money would receive most of their guaranteed salaries, with the union determining the exact percentage splits.
The players would be taking an additional pay cut in this proposal, based on no fans in attendance for an 82-game season, after already agreeing to be paid on a pro-rated basis that reduces their pay by almost 50%.
Yet revenue sharing was not referenced at all in the document that was prepared for the union.
The union was concerned that revenue sharing would lead to the introduction of a salary cap in future negotiations, while wary of further pay reductions, including the possibility of a percentage of their salaries placed in escrow.
The owners insist they will lose money during the regular season without fans in attendance, but would be guaranteed $777 million in postseason TV revenue, which would be inflated to about $1 billion with the postseason format expanded to 14 teams instead of 10.
There’s no hard deadline for the negotiations to be completed, but the two sides would likely need to reach an agreement in seven to 10 days if the season can begin the first week of July.