Coronavirus: MLB, MLBPA Reach Deal, Giving Players Full Duty Time In 2020, Dramatically Reducing Draft
Major League Baseball and MLB Players Association have reached agreement on various issues caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to Jeff Passan from ESPN. The teams have spent the last two weeks negotiating the issues after the league suspended spring training and indefinitely delayed the start of its regular season.
The contract doesn’t determine what the league’s schedule will look like in 2020, as the evolution of the pandemic in the coming months is the only thing that will decide how much baseball is played this year. As a result, the parties have not come to an agreement on what shortened spring training would look like or whether teams would be able to expand their rosters at the start of a shortened season.
According to Passan, Evan drellich and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, and Ronald Blum of The Associated Press, the contract includes the following stipulations:
- The 2020 MLB Draft will still take place – no later than July 20 – and go from 40 rounds to five. MLB has the discretion to increase the number of spins at a later date.
- Players will get full duty time for the 2020 season, even if it is shortened or canceled. Players active or on the shortened year injured list will receive a full year of service and players will receive the same service time as in 2019 if the 2020 season is canceled.
- Players will receive an advance lump sum payment of $ 170 million over the next two months, split between “four levels of players – those with guaranteed contracts and those in three different levels of contracts divided between majors and minors.” If there is no season, the players will keep that money.
- Salaries will be prorated based on the length of the regular season.
- Players cannot sue teams for their full salary if the 2020 season is canceled.
- Players can sign the schedule before it becomes official.
- MLB may delay the start of the international signing period from July 2 until January 2021, may shorten the 2021 draft from 40 rounds to 20, and may extend the 2021 international signing period to January 2022.
- Teams can carry over signing bonuses for draft picks in 2020 and 2021, with 10% due within 30 days of each contract being approved and 45% on July 1 of each of the following two years.
- Signing bonuses for undrafted players will be capped at $ 20,000.
- Adjustments to refereeing rules so that players are not penalized for stats that do not compare to other seasons. If the season is canceled, players eligible for arbitration will receive in 2021 the same salary that was planned for 2020.
- Starting Friday, roster changes will be frozen until the start of the season.
The main trade-off, it seems, is that players were able to get the uptime guarantee – even if the season isn’t played at all – in exchange for giving owners a potential cost-cutting measure by considerably modifying the structure. of the project. Any player who is expected to hit free agency after 2020 (including Mookie Betts, JT Realmuto, Trevor Bauer and others) will still be able to do so, even if the season is not played.
