MLB, Union Closer To Deal After Manfred-Clark Meeting
After MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred made the dramatic move to fly to Arizona on Tuesday to meet face-to-face with MLBPA Exec Dir Tony Clark for the first time during negotiations, the league has made another proposal to the union, a source familiar with the offer told SBJ.
The union has not agreed even in principle to the offer, but after weeks of acrimony hope is growing today that a deal can be struck to play a truncated season in empty ballparks.
The new proposal is expected to include an offer of full prorated salaries for players with an expanded postseason that could include as many as 16 teams. Those elements were expected to be included in any MLB offer at this point because the union has been adamant that players are due full prorated salaries based on the March 26 agreement between the two sides.
This marks an abrupt turn in contentious negotiations after Manfred on Monday said that he was "not confident" of staging a '20 season, remarks that came just five days after he said he was 100% confident that there would be a season.
Over the last two-plus months, the two main elements owners and players could find no agreement on were: 1) How much will owners suffer financially from staging a shortened season in empty ballparks? 2) How much should players share in that financial pain? The two sides couldn't even agree on what was agreed on in the March 26 accord between the two sides.
But after a series of proposals and dueling letters between union lead negotiator Bruce Meyer and MLB Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem, the window for scheduling any season has narrowed by the day. A sense of urgency has been felt on both sides in recent days. And now there is renewed hope.
