Despite Rob Manfred's claim that the owners' next offer to the MLB players would be "another significant move in the players' direction," every move in that claim, starting with "another," turned out to be false.
MLB's latest offer _ delivered to the players on Friday afternoon _ calls for a 72-game regular season starting July 14 with players being paid 80% of their prorated salaries.
The players would get 70% of their prorated salaries for the regular season and the other 10% for the postseason.
"MLB's new offer to the MLBPA for a 72-game season is roughly equivalent to what players would receive in a 50-game season at full prorated pay," The Athletic reported.
In the same report, Evan Drellich pointed out that increased roster sizes and playoff pay meant an additional $71 million for the players _ less than $100,000 per player.
Each offer from the owners has fundamentally landed in about the same place: about $1.25 billion or roughly a third of the players' full compensation for the year.
"We're hopeful that it will produce reciprocal movement from the players' association, that we'll see a number other than 100% on salary, and some recognition that 89 games, given where we are in the calendar and the course of the pandemic, is not realistic," Manfred had told ESPN on Wednesday about the proposal that landed Friday.
He also made headlines for stating that he was "100%" confident in a season being played.
In the back-and-forth battle on how to start up a 2020 campaign in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the players aren't budging on full prorated pay. The players offered up an 89-game regular season on Tuesday.
The players point to an agreement reached on March 26 on full prorated salaries, but MLB now argues that deal was struck before it became clear games could not move forward with fans in the stands.
The latest offer _ which is widely expected to be rejected by the players _ reportedly expires on Sunday.
In MLB's latest plan the regular season would conclude on Sept. 27. The league has not been willing to budge on pushing the regular season beyond the end of September over fears a possible second wave of the coronavirus would shut down the postseason and the big bucks the league makes from playoff TV rights.
Manfred has threatened to force a 50-game regular season on the players if the two sides can't reach an agreement.
