MLB sends new economic proposal to players association

*Photo from the Boston Globe*

   MLB's owners agreed to a revised proposal of an earlier 50-50 revenue sharing agreement that they sent to the MLB players association(MLBPA), according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale. The revised proposal will include a scale of pay cuts relative to how much each player makes. This means that the highest paid MLB players, such as Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, and Gerrit Cole would take more of a pay cut than lower paid players such as Starlin Castro, Collin McHugh, and Wade Miley. 

   MLB's owners previously agreed on a 50-50 revenue sharing plan a few weeks ago, but the MLBPA declined that proposal due to it resembling a salary cap. That also sparked fierce opposition from the players, most notably Tampa Bay Rays RHP Blake Snell. That caused MLB to reconsider it's position due to both sides wanting to play a season. 

   According to The Athletic's Evan Drellich, the MLBPA doesn't like this revised proposal either because of the massive pay cuts. The MLBPA and MLB agreed in March to prorated salaries for the 2020 season, with the MLBPA not wanting to take another pay cut. The big debate around that agreement is if that agreement can be re-negotiated if games are played without fans, with each side's lawyers stating their cases. The MLBPA also still believes that they are far apart from MLB in terms of safety protocols for this season.

   Due to the sides being far apart on economics and safety protocols for the 2020 season, there is still a lot of ground to be covered, but both sides want a season to be played. MLB and the MLBPA have begun a week of intense negotiations about restarting the season, which will revolve around the economic proposals and the MLBPA's response to the safety proposal the MLB submitted to the MLBPA on May 16.