New on Sports Illustrated: Report: MLB Won't Counter Players' Offer of 70-Game Season

A day after the MLBPA sent a proposal for a 70-game season, the league reportedly won't submit a counter offer.

A day after the MLB Players Association sent a proposal to league owners for a 70-game 2020 season, it appears the league has had enough of back-and-forth negotiations.

MLB has told the players union that it will not make a counteroffer, according to Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic. The league is now discussing options with the owners and could try to implement a season in the 50-game range. Its last offer to the players included a 60-game season.

In that offer, the 2020 season would have begun on July 19 or 20 and be completed in 70 days. The proposal included expanded playoffs for 2020 and 2021. Rosenthal reported then that the players would likely reject that offer and counter for more games, with the ultimate goal of settling at 65 games.

The MLBPA issued the following statement Friday evening:

"MLB has informed the Association that is will not respond to our last proposal and will not play more than 60 games. Our Executive Board will convene in the near future to determine next steps. Importantly, Players remain committed to getting back to work as soon as possible."

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and MLBPA executive director Tony Clark met face-to-face in Arizona on Tuesday, at Manfred's request. The talks were reportedly productive, according to MLB Network's Jon Heyman, with Manfred saying in a statement afterward that the two sides had settled on a framework that could lead to an eventual agreement.

"We left that meeting with a jointly developed framework that we agreed could form the basis of an agreement and subject to conversations with our respective constituents," Manfred wrote. "I summarized that framework numerous times in the meeting and sent Tony a written summary today. Consistent with our conversations yesterday, I am encouraging the Clubs to move forward and I trust Tony is doing the same."

June 20, 2020 at 05:40AM
Report: MLB Won't Counter Players' Offer of 70-Game Season