It appears that Major League Baseball and the players' association have had a major breakthrough in negotiations regarding the 2020 season.
The league and players union reportedly are closing in on a deal to play the 2020 campaign, according to MLB Network's Jon Heyman, and it will likely be for prorated pay and expanded playoffs.
Heyman also adds that the players union will waive any grievance against the league in an agreement to resume the season.
Breaking: MLB and players union are closing in on an agreement to play the 2020 season, via players. Deal expected to be for prorated pay and include expanded playoffs.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) June 17, 2020
As part of the pending agreement to play the 2020 season between MLB and the players union, the union has agreed to waive any grievance.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) June 17, 2020
Specific details have not been released regarding the number of games or how things would exactly play out, but it looks like we could get a baseball season after all.
However, in a conflicting report, The Athletic's Evan Drellich is stating that the two sides aren't close just yet, and a new proposal was only sent to the players union a short time ago.
Source says no deal is close yet between MLB and MLBPA beccause the proposal was just sent by MLB. No agreement even in principle at this point.
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) June 17, 2020
Regardless, the significant progress in negotiations comes after MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred revealed that he wasn't 100 percent confident the 2020 season would be played after negotiations seemingly came to a halt.
There's no word on when the season will begin, but the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, recently warned about the potential dangers of the league playing too late into the fall months.
MLB has been adamant about the regular season ending in September, citing health concerns, but more details are expected to be revealed in the coming days and weeks.
With the news that we may, in fact, get a baseball season, the United States now will likely have all four major sports leagues in action in the coming months.
The NBA is set to resume their season at Walt Disney World next month, the NHL will resume group training on July 10 which could lead to playoff games being played in August and the NFL is on track to begin training camp towards the end of July. Major League soccer also is prepared to start in Orlando next month.
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