MLB And MLBPA Negotiations, Part 1,527: A Deal Is Sorta, Kinda, Maybe…Near.

Multiple reports early Wednesday morning indicating one on one meetings taking place the last two days between the commissioner of baseball, Rob Manfred, and head of the Major League Baseball Players Association, Tony Clark, flooded the social networks with few mentioning progress being made towards an agreement for a 2020 season.

The MLBPA and MLB have been teetering back and forth with proposals, that would eventually fail, for the last month up until this weekend when both sides announced that negotiations were futile leaving the decision for Rob Manfred to impose a shortened season. Up until then, the owners would continually offer deals with only portions of the prorated pay they agreed to in March spinning language in the agreement that they contend justified such offers. The MLBPA would vehemently disagree with counters that would offer full prorated pay for lengths of up to 114 games. At times it would seem progress was being made with every proposal inching towards a middle ground but instead the receiving parties would respond with complete disappointment.

Last week during the first year player draft, Manfred announced that he was “unequivocally” “100%” sure there would be a season. This was obviously referring to his ability to mandate a season regardless if both sides hadn’t reached an agreement. Then on Monday, he flipped. “Unfortunately, I can’t tell you I’m 100% certain…” Manfred told Mike Greenberg in an interview on ESPN. Both of those statements by him were within a week of each other.

As mentioned, both sides stalled negotiations this past weekend with players proclaiming “tell us when and where” thus implying Manfred imposes his mandate for a ~50 game season for full prorated pay. Only problem with that is the MLBPA would then file a grievance which could force the league and owners to open up their financial books which the players union has been consistently requesting and the league/owners, avoiding. So, this past Monday, the same day Manfred pulled an about face, the league sent a letter to the MLBPA requesting them to waive filing any legal claims, or else sayonara baseball. This lead to the most dismal feeling of a 2020 season taking place.

Finally, with the news that the leaders of both negotiating parties met face to face instead of electronic mail communications, there was actual hope of significant momentum. Well, it looks like that hope might’ve been rewarded.

Here's a statement from the commissioner suggesting a deal is close. pic.twitter.com/EasH5y1Ipr

— Dodgers Tailgate (@DodgersTailgate) June 17, 2020

Here are the pertinent details from the latest proposal by the league:

• 60 game season that would start July 19th with the players receiving full prorated pay with an added $25 million postseason pool.
• Universal designated hitter rule implemented for 2020 and 2021 as well.
• Expanded playoffs from 10 teams to 16 for 2020 and 2021.
• Both sides will forego filing any grievance.

The owners agreeing to full prorated pay for more than 50 games and the players waiving the ability to file a grievance against the league will ultimately headline the resolution. The players aren’t happy with 60 games and are leaning on a number closer to 70 but with the strides made in the last couple of days with Manfred and Clark putting a framework together it seems doubtful a difference of 10 games throws a wrench into an actual agreement being announced by this weekend.

So, there you have it. The billionaire babies have finally learned to share…maybe. Hopefully soon enough, it’ll be time for Dodger baseball.

Oskar is a writer for Dodgers-Lowdown. Follow him on Twitter @2Rawsko94. Photo credit:  Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports