The new MLB economic proposal submitted to players Tuesday was met with disappointment as players are not happy with pay cuts.
No surprise, the union didn’t like MLB’s first proposal, and it’ll be a battle, with predictable hand wringing on both sides. There’s not a lot of time (June 1 is soft deadline but June 5-10 is firmer) but remember this, both sides have too much to lose to blow this up over $!
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 27, 2020
The MLB has proposed an 82-game schedule, claiming that the original economic plan put forward did not account for the lack of fans in attendance, according to the AP. The new pay scale for players would be a sliding scale. The major league minimum pay for players is $563,500. The new deal states that players being paid that minimum will be able to retain 90% of the salary. (RELATED: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman Details The Return Of Hockey)
The pay scale gets more severe as players begin to earn more money. Players earning between league minimum at $1 million dollars would get only 72.5% of their proposed salary. Players earning anywhere from $1 million to $5 million will earn just 50%. Players earning from $5 million to $10 million will get 40%. Players earning $10 million to $20 million will earn only 30% of their proposed salaries. Any player earning over $20 million will be given only 20% of their proposed salary.
After each player’s salaries were cut based off of earnings, they would then be prorated based off of the 82/162 games agreed upon in March. That would cause each players salary to be cut again by 49.4%, according to the AP.
Potential salary cuts in MLB plan, sources tell @JesseRogersESPN and me:
Full-year Proposal
$563.5K $262K
$1M $434K
$2M $736K
$5M $1.64M
$10M $2.95M
$15M $4.05M
$20M $5.15M
$25M $6.05M
$30M $6.95M
$35M $7.84M— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 26, 2020
The plan would have the MLB giving $200 million in postseason rewards. $25 million for the Divisional Series, $50 million for the League Championship Series, and $125 million for the World Series. Any performance or award bonuses earned by players would be cut according to the income level they fall in.
The MLB, according to the AP, estimates that players’ salaries will drop from $4 billion to $1.23 billion due to the proposed plan.
Players like Blake Snell have already discussed their disagreement with the league’s proposals, stating “I’m not playing unless I get mine.” Bryce Harper also stated that he supported Snell’s decision and that other big league players were “thinking about it.”