Padres News: MLBPA responds with 114-game proposal

Could the Padres season begin at the end of this month?

Late last night, the MLB player union’s responded to MLB owners with a proposal of their own. While it’s not anticipated to be accepted as-is, there is hope that the Padres, as well as the rest of the league, will start on June 30.

That’s the date that the players want to begin what would be a 114-game schedule. A couple of other stipulations from the proposal include $100 million in deferred player salaries if the postseason is cut short or canceled altogether. Also, the playoffs would temporarily be expanded from ten to 14 teams for the next two seasons.

The players also want to include a Home Run Derby and All-Star Game at the conclusion of the season, as a means to generate even more revenue. If agreed to, players who don’t want to play, for fear of their safety, can opt-out. Those considered to be “high-risk” individuals would receive both service time and the money they are owed.

However, those that simply don’t want to play would only receive service time.

With the players wanting approximately three weeks for “Spring Training 2.0”, MLB owners and the MLBPA need to agree on something this week for the June 30 date to be feasible. But to this point, the owners have presented two non-starter proposals after previously going back on their agreed prorated salaries in March.

We’ll see if the owners counter with something else, but it’s good to see the two sides working towards, what looks like, an eventual start date to the 2020 season.