(Yahoo Sports) A regular season that opens in late July, holds 50 or 60 games and concludes with an expanded postseason in October was introduced by baseball commissioner Rob Manfred as part of the most recent negotiations between owners and players, sources said Monday.
Not yet able to reach a compromise on player salaries across a longer season, Manfred in effect offered to enforce the terms of a March 26 agreement that granted him powers to determine when it was safe to start the season. Under that plan, and tailored to what owners choose to spend on player salaries, players would receive their prorated salaries, a point of emphasis for the union during negotiations, along with providing Major League Baseball’s owners economic relief through a season significantly shorter than those previously proposed by the owners and the players.
The union does not believe it has received the financial information from the league to justify a further reduction in player salaries. It does intend to respond to the offer, though on Monday did not appear to be viewing the latest proposal favorably.
