The Major League Baseball Players Association put their foot down on Wednesday night and are expected to present a counteroffer in response to Major League Baseball’s proposal. It seems as if the majority, if not all players shot down the latest MLB plan, with many players expressing their disgust for the offered salary projections.
Washington Nationals World-Champion ace Max Scherzer, one of eight players on the MLBPA’s executive subcommittee, tweeted Wednesday that the pay cuts in the league’s latest proposal this week would not be accepted and the union would remain committed to players receiving their full prorated salaries.
Scherzer bluntly stated: “After discussing the latest developments with the rest of the players there’s no need to engage with MLB in any further compensation reductions.”
Earlier this week, MLB pitched a ‘sliding pay scale’ system that would prorate player salaries (note that the players have already been notified of an initial pay cut). In the recent 82-game proposal, Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout would be paid less than $6 million, compared to the $19 million-plus he would receive prorated. While this would be less severe for the lower-paid players, the union’s message was loud and clear.
MLB has proposed resuming play starting the first week of July (obviously with no fans in the stands). It appears though that if the two parties can’t come to an agreement soon, the timeline for when baseball returns could approach dangerous territory. Baseball was already in a scary ‘point of no return’ position relative to the rest of the sports world, and further bad press does nothing but hurt the decline of America’s pastime.
