Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
In letter, MLB rejects players’ plan for 114 games
Major League Baseball rejected the players’ proposal for a 114-game schedule in the pandemic-delayed season with no additional salary cuts, telling the union that teams have no reason to think 82 games is possible and now will discuss even fewer.
Players made their proposal Sunday, five days after management’s initial economic plan. Opening day would be June 30 and the regular season would end Oct. 31, nearly five weeks after the Sept. 27 conclusion that MLB’s proposal stuck to from the season’s original schedule.
Management has said it will discuss a schedule of about 50 games, which would result in players receiving about 30% of their full salaries under the deal for prorated pay the union agreed to in March.
“You confirmed for us on Sunday that players are unified in their view that they will not accept less than 100% of their prorated salaries, and we have no choice but to accept that representation,” Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem wrote in a letter Wednesday to chief union negotiator Bruce Meyer that was obtained by The Associated Press.
“Based on that position, the positions espoused in your counterproposal, the significant health risk of extending the regular season past September and the fact that we have missed our June 1 deadline for resuming spring training by June 10, we do not have any reason to believe that a negotiated solution for an 82-game season is possible,” Halem wrote.
“Nonetheless, the commissioner is committed to playing baseball in 2020. He has started discussions with ownership about staging a shorter season.”
Halem ended his letter by telling Meyer “we stand ready to discuss any ideas you may have that might lead to an agreement on resuming play without regular fan access in our stadiums.”
MLB does not want to play past
October because it fears a second wave of the coronavirus could disrupt the postseason and jeopardize $787 million in broadcast revenue. Halem cited MLB’s infectious disease consultant, Dr. Ali Khan, dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska.
■ Pirates RHP Chris Archer, 31, won’t pitch if there’s a season this year after undergoing surgery Tuesday to relieve symptoms of thoracic outlet syndrome.
College Football Hall of Famer Johnny Majors,
the coach of Pittsburgh’s 1976 national championship team and a former coach and star player at Tennessee, died. He was 85. Majors compiled a 185-137-10 record in 29 seasons as a coach at Iowa State (1968-72), Pitt (1973-76, 1993-96) and Tennessee (1977-92). That followed a standout playing career at Tennessee during which he finished second to Notre Dame’s Paul Hornung in the 1956 Heisman Trophy balloting. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1987. Tennessee retired Majors’ No. 45 jersey in 2012 . ... Two more Oklahoma State players tested positive for COVID-19 since returning to campus for voluntary workouts, bringing the total to three. Senior associate AD Kevin Klintworth tweeted that of the 150 staff, administrators and athletes tested, three athletes had asymptomatic positives.
After earlier sharing a message of unity on social media, Saints QB Drew Brees attracted backlash when he reiterated his past stance on how he will “never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America” during an interview with Yahoo Finance. They were the future Hall of Famer’s first comments in the wake of George Floyd’s killing last week. Brees’ remarks on the flag drew a sharp rebuke on social media across the sports world, including from Lakers star LeBron James and Saints teammate Malcom Jenkins. ... Broncos coach Vic Fangio apologized for suggesting discrimination and racism aren’t problems in the NFL. “After reflecting on my comments and listening to the players, I realize what I said regarding racism and discrimination in the NFL was wrong,” Fangio said in an apology posted on the team’s Twitter account. Fangio, 61, faced blowback on social media and was called tonedeaf after his comments in a video call with the media Tuesday. He had suggested discrimination and racism weren’t issues in the NFL.