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Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association are still far apart in negotiations for restarting the 2020 season, per multiple reports.
The initial proposal made by owners Tuesday called for drastic pay cuts for players in addition to the pro-rated salaries both sides agreed to on March 26. But in addition, the cuts are tiered, which has the potential to cause a rift in the union.
Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers at ESPN broke down the details:
The salary scale in the proposal is:
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 27, 2020
- $0 to $563,500 (league minimum) paid at 90%
- $563,501 to $1 million paid at 72.5%
- $1,000,001 to $5 million paid at 50%
- $5,000,001 to $10 million paid at 40%
- $10,000,001 to $20 million paid at 30%
- $20,000,001 and up paid at 20%
Let’s use a few Dodgers as examples. Mookie Betts has a $27 million salary for 2020. A pro-rated salary for an 82-game season would be roughly $13.67 million. But under the owners’ reported proposal, given the tiers above, Betts would get about $4.7 million, or 34.2 percent.
In this proposal, there would be potential bonuses for all players that get progressively larger as postseason series are played, per Passan.
On the lower end, Julio Urias has a $1 million salary, which is just over $506,000 pro-rated over 82 games. Given this proposal he’d get roughly $417,000, or 82.4 percent.
Players with signing bonuses have a slightly different calculation. For instance, Clayton Kershaw’s $93 million contract included a $23 million signing bonus, spread evenly over the three years of the deal. His $31 million for 2020 is actually $7.67 million in a bonus, which is already earned money that he gets on June 30, plus $23.33 million in salary, only the latter affected by these proposals.
Max Muncy and Ross Stripling also signed deals with signing bonuses this year.
Using the tiers reported by Passan and Rogers, here is a rough look at what this proposal would mean for the 33 Dodgers on the 40-man roster who were still active in major league camp when spring training was canceled and rosters frozen. The pay ranges from 31.9 percent (David Price) to 89.9 percent of the pro-rated portion in this proposal.
Dodgers 2020 payroll based on owners proposal
| Pos | Player | Total 2020 | Signing bonus | 2020 salary | 82-g pro-rated | Owners proposal | % of pro-rated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Player | Total 2020 | Signing bonus | 2020 salary | 82-g pro-rated | Owners proposal | % of pro-rated |
| SP | David Price | $32,000,000 | $0 | $32,000,000 | $16,197,531 | $5,174,915 | 31.9% |
| RF | Mookie Betts | $27,000,000 | $0 | $27,000,000 | $13,666,667 | $4,668,742 | 34.2% |
| SP | Clayton Kershaw | $31,000,000 | $7,666,667 | $23,333,333 | $11,810,700 | $4,297,549 | 36.4% |
| 3B | Justin Turner | $19,000,000 | $0 | $19,000,000 | $9,617,284 | $3,808,248 | 39.6% |
| CL | Kenley Jansen | $18,000,000 | $0 | $18,000,000 | $9,111,111 | $3,656,396 | 40.1% |
| LF | A.J. Pollock | $12,000,000 | $0 | $12,000,000 | $6,074,074 | $2,745,285 | 45.2% |
| CF | Cody Bellinger | $11,500,000 | $0 | $11,500,000 | $5,820,988 | $2,669,359 | 45.9% |
| RHP | Blake Treinen | $10,000,000 | $0 | $10,000,000 | $5,061,728 | $2,441,582 | 48.2% |
| RHP | Joe Kelly | $8,500,000 | $0 | $8,500,000 | $4,302,469 | $2,137,878 | 49.7% |
| OF | Joc Pederson | $7,750,000 | $0 | $7,750,000 | $3,922,840 | $1,986,026 | 50.6% |
| SS | Corey Seager | $7,600,000 | $0 | $7,600,000 | $3,846,914 | $1,955,656 | 50.8% |
| IF/OF | Kiké Hernandez | $5,900,000 | $0 | $5,900,000 | $2,986,420 | $1,611,458 | 54.0% |
| IF/OF | Chris Taylor | $5,600,000 | $0 | $5,600,000 | $2,834,568 | $1,550,717 | 54.7% |
| SP | Alex Wood | $4,000,000 | $0 | $4,000,000 | $2,024,691 | $1,176,150 | 58.1% |
| RHP | Pedro Baez | $4,000,000 | $0 | $4,000,000 | $2,024,691 | $1,176,150 | 58.1% |
| C | Austin Barnes | $1,100,000 | $0 | $1,100,000 | $556,790 | $442,199 | 79.4% |
| 1B | Max Muncy | $5,500,000 | $4,500,000 | $1,000,000 | $506,173 | $416,890 | 82.4% |
| SP | Julio Urias | $1,000,000 | $0 | $1,000,000 | $506,173 | $416,890 | 82.4% |
| LHP | Scott Alexander | $875,000 | $0 | $875,000 | $442,901 | $371,018 | 83.8% |
| RHP | Jimmy Nelson | $750,000 | $0 | $750,000 | $379,630 | $325,146 | 85.6% |
| SP | Walker Buehler | $603,500 | $0 | $603,500 | $305,475 | $271,385 | 88.8% |
| RHP | Ross Stripling | $2,100,000 | $1,500,000 | $600,000 | $303,704 | $270,100 | 88.9% |
| RHP | Dylan Floro | $593,500 | $0 | $593,500 | $300,414 | $267,715 | 89.1% |
| LHP | Adam Kolarek | $583,500 | $0 | $583,500 | $295,352 | $264,045 | 89.4% |
| LHP | Caleb Ferguson | $583,500 | $0 | $583,500 | $295,352 | $264,045 | 89.4% |
| C | Will Smith | $573,500 | $0 | $573,500 | $290,290 | $260,375 | 89.7% |
| 1B/OF | Matt Beaty | $573,500 | $0 | $573,500 | $290,290 | $260,375 | 89.7% |
| SP | Dustin May | $573,500 | $0 | $573,500 | $290,290 | $260,375 | 89.7% |
| RHP | Dennis Santana | $573,500 | $0 | $573,500 | $290,290 | $260,375 | 89.7% |
| 2B | Gavin Lux | $566,000 | $0 | $566,000 | $286,494 | $257,623 | 89.9% |
| 1B/3B | Edwin Rios | $566,000 | $0 | $566,000 | $286,494 | $257,623 | 89.9% |
| RHP | Brusdar Graterol | $566,000 | $0 | $566,000 | $286,494 | $257,623 | 89.9% |
| RHP | Tony Gonsolin | $566,000 | $0 | $566,000 | $286,494 | $257,623 | 89.9% |
We don’t know exactly how rosters might expand once things get going, but if we add up the difference between 82-game pro-rated salary and this owners’ proposal for all 33 players, the Dodgers would save roughly $59 million.
As you might have assumed, players aren’t thrilled with the idea of substantial pay cuts in addition to the cuts already agreed to in March. Their position is that the owners don’t share the extra wealth in the good times, why shouldn’t the owners take the hit in the rare instance the sport is less than profitable?
The MLBPA is very disappointed with MLB’s economic proposal today, source tells me and @Ken_Rosenthal, calling additional cuts proposed “massive." League offered to share more playoff revenue, but on balance, those dollars are small compared to what players give up, PA believes.
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) May 26, 2020
Interesting strategy of making the best most marketable players potentially look like the bad guys
— Brett Anderson (@_BAnderson30_) May 26, 2020
It’s getting very irritating that all of the information regarding the start of the baseball season is getting leaked before 95% of the players can even see it.
— Jake Diekman (@JakeDiekman) May 26, 2020
The owners, meanwhile, are standing firm.
MLB statement: “We made a proposal to the union that is completely consistent with the economic realities facing our sport. We look forward to a responsive proposal from the MLBPA.”
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 26, 2020
There will be a lot of talk about this proposal, focusing on the financial aspects. But that’s not the only thing the sides are bickering about.
MLB and the MLBPA are far apart on salary issues. But I'm also hearing that a big gap remains on health and safety protocol, too.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) May 26, 2020
Maybe the players and owners can still work out a deal. But for now, they remain far apart.