While the National Hockey League has come to an agreement with its players for a possible summer return, and the National Basketball Association is very close in coming to an agreement with the National Basketball Players’ Association, unfortunately, Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players’ Association are still far apart. The reasons for the separation at this time has to do with economics.
Initially, Major League Baseball proposed a revenue-sharing plan with its Players’ Association when the season was to return. That was rejected. Then, Major League Baseball proposed what they called a “sliding scale”, where those who were set to earn the most in 2020, would receive the largest cuts, so the majority of players would not see too much of a drop in income. According to Eric Fisher of Sport Business, sources from the MLBPA state that the proposal was “extremely disappointing,” and there is a belief that ownership is trying to divide players.
Now, one must realize that the NHL and NBA were in a better position to pay their players. That is because the majority of their season has already been completed. In the NHL’s case, the players have already been paid, but are willing to finish out their season, because it could impact the escrow for future years. Major League Baseball meanwhile had not even started its regular season.
There was a hope for Major League Baseball to return at some point in July. That hope is definitely looking a little challenging at this time. It will also be interesting to see how much time players want in preparation time before starting the regular season. At the time of the coronavirus pause, Major League Baseball was in the middle of spring training.
