Tampa Bay Rays News: Players give up negotiations for 2020 season

Tampa Bay Rays News: There will be a season in 2020, but 2022 is not looking so good after the latest exchange.

Tampa Bay Rays Update: On a day when Major League Baseball signed a billion-dollar contract with Turner Sports, the players dejectedly reject the latest proposal from the owners.

In a back and forth less enjoyable than watching a full tennis match between Andy Roddick and Tony Romo in which the loser has to turn his hat round to the front, the players have declined the latest proposal.

They lowered the heads, gritted their teeth, and have demanded to know when they should report for their 48-game season.

Also, I think I’m underselling a tennis match between Roddick and Romo, that could be a lot of fun. Peyton Manning could be the line judge and Eli Manning can live tweet. Someone make that happen. 

As agreed upon back in March, the commissioner can institute a season of 48 games.

This is a smart move by the players. Putting the ball back in the court of the owners. This plan will not include an expanded playoff and reduces the season to just 48 games. The owners’ latest proposal called for a 72-game season at 80% prorated pay.

They now put the pressure on the owners to take responsibility for a 48-game season.

Tampa Bay Rays News – The Problem Beyond

We are going to get baseball this season. The bigger problem is how this inability to come to an agreement is going to roll over into the next collective bargaining agreements after the 2021 season.

The owners are firm in their stance that paying players a fully prorated salary would cause them to suffer losses too significant for them to compromise. They are trying to force the players to take less of a per game salary than their contracts guarantee.

Following a season in which Major League Baseball generated a record $10.7 billion in revenues, players don’t host a lot of sympathy for the owners who want them to take less pay for higher risk.

Keep in mind, this is not millionaires vs. billionaires. Only about 31% of the MLBPA is set to earn a minimum of a million dollars in a full 2020 season. The Max Scherzers of the world are representing all of the top guys making millions and all of the guys making the 40-man minimum of $46,000.

As mentioned earlier, this news comes on the same day Major League Baseball signed a deal with Turner Sports for a billion dollars. That’s not a good look.

Who is ready for a strike in 2022?