May 11, 2020 - Sports

MLB owners send plan for July start to players' union

Fadel Allassan

MLB. — Fenway Park in Boston remains closed. Photo: Stan Grossfeld/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

MLB owners approved a proposal to send to the league's players' union that would start this year's baseball season without fans around the Fourth of July, AP reports.

Details: Under the plan, spring training would start in early to mid-June. Teams would then play roughy 82 regular-season games, mostly against teams in their own division. The playoffs would be expanded from 10 teams to 14 by doubling the number of wild cards in each league.

Teams in jurisdictions where they couldn't get permission to play in their home stadium would play in spring training stadiums or on neutral fields.
The All-Star Game, which is currently scheduled for July 14, would likely be canceled.
The proposal also temporarily expands the use of a designated hitter to the National League.

Yes, but: It's not going to be easy. A key aspect of the proposal involves players' salaries being paid through a 50/50 revenue split with the league.

An owners' proposal in 1994 that included a revenue split and salary cap led to a players' strike that saw the World Series get wiped out that year.

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MLB owners send plan for July start to players' union

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