Dodgers Team News

MLB News: Players Union Set to Vote on Proposed 60 Game Season, Likely to Reject Again

As MLB’s shortened 2020 season squabbling enters it’s fifth week or so (it’s all a monotonous blur), this will they, won’t they frustration may soon be coming to an end.

Reports surfaced on Sunday that the MLBPA was in the middle of a conference call when director Tony Clark received a communication from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.

The league is saying more than 60 games simply cannot work…

Last week, as the union cried out that it was done negotiating and followed that up with the “when and where” drivel online, Manfred did not issue a schedule as he promised. Instead, he… reached out and started again negotiating with Clark. The sides actually got together for hours in a room together and then came out of the meeting apparently no closer together.

MLB and its owners offered up a 60 game season at full prorated pay. The when and where players union rejected that and followed up with a 70 game counterproposal. MLB scoffed and said they now would not be negotiating any further.

Then the olive branch on Sunday.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan continued.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred sent a letter to MLBPA executive director Tony Clark today offering to cancel expanded playoffs and universal DH for 2021 if a full season isn’t played in 2020, sources tell ESPN. Players are concerned about giving up leverage of playoffs for naught.

With that, the season will be 60 games, around 50 games, or none. Of course, the bigger concern is once again the coronavirus surge still sweeping the country. In fact, Florida based baseball operations are likely shut down for 2020… but that’s a different story for a different post.

That 60 or 50 or no game season will be voted on today by a 38-member board with results expected by 5 pm ET. According to MLB insider Joel Sherman, “the expectation remains the [players]. If so, will Manfred move to implement a season?”

More to come on this all today.

UPDATE:

ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that the originally scheduled vote time of 3 pm ET was pushed while the two sides continue to negotiate.

Clint Pasillas

Clint Pasillas has been writing, blogging, and podcasting about the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2008. Under Clint's leadership as the Lead Editor, Dodgers Nation has grown into one of the most read baseball sites in the world with millions of unique visitors per month. Find him online on Twitter/X or his YouTube channel!

2 Comments

  1. Please reject for the simple reason that 60 games is completely meaningless plus they want to add teams to the playoffs. There should be less if anything. Unless they want to just make it for fun with no division titles no pennants and no World Series, just ball games for fans

  2. Two spoiled brats making millions while so many ticket paying fans trying to meet basic survival needs watch in utter amazement and displeasure. Are both sides trying to kill baseball?

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