MLB players offer new proposal, which would include 114-game regular season

MLB could be nearing an agreement.Tom Szczerbowski/G

The Major League Baseball Players Association on Sunday proposed playing a 114-game regular season that would start on June 30 and be followed by an expanded postseason.

The union did not offer to take a pay cut in its ongoing dialogue with Major League Baseball on starting the season, but did raise the possibility of deferrals for the first time.

But those deferrals would only apply if the postseason were canceled because of a second wave of the coronavirus, the Associated Press reported. The Players Association otherwise is seeking full pro-rated pay.

Last week, MLB proposed a sliding scale of pay cuts for an 82-game season because games will be played without fans, a revenue stream that team owners consider crucial.

The union also proposed that all players would have the right to opt out of the season for safety concerns. Players considered at high risk for coronavirus would receive their salaries and service time.

Other players would receive only service time if they chose not to play.

Both sides now favor a 14-team postseason for 2020 with the players offering the same format for 2021.

The players also offered flexibility in scheduling the doubleheaders needed to cram 114 games into four months.

Under the union plan, deferrals in the event of the postseason being canceled would affect only players with original salaries of $10 million or more. They estimate that would be $2.8 billion payable over two years.

The players also are seeking a $100 million salary advance at the start of spring training.

That the union proposal puts deferments on the table could be where the sides find common ground in the coming days. There is no deadline on the talks, but to open the season in late June or early July, teams would have start workouts by approximately June 10.