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Lack of Trust Between MLB Owners and the MLBPA Is Marring Negotiations

SI's Tom Verducci shares his updates with negotiations between MLBPA and the owners
Tom Verducci|

MLB has not yet come to official terms with its players. The players said Saturday they are done negotiating and want the season to start with players receiving their prorated salaries. SI senior writer Tom Verducci shares another update on the MLBPA issues with MLB ownership.

Tom Verducci:

At the root of the disagreement between Major League Baseball players and owners is distrust. Players have turned negotiations about a return to play after a pandemic into an argument about how much money the owners are making and they do not trust the owners numbers. And that's why the players say they are adamant that they will not take a second pay cut. How firm are they? Well the owners recently proposed a 72-game season at 80 percent of prorated pay. That works out to a total pool of about $1.5 billion for the players. The players rejected it, knowing that Commissioner Rob Manfred has the authority to schedule 48 games at one hundred percent of prorated pay. The total payout in that scenario, $1.2 billion. The players are willing to take $300 million less and possibly take their case to agreements that $300 million? It works out to a virtual pay cut for each individual player of 20 percent. Distrust is a very powerful force.

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Tom Verducci
TOM VERDUCCI

Tom Verducci is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who has covered Major League Baseball since 1981. He also serves as an analyst for FOX Sports and the MLB Network; is a New York Times best-selling author; and cohosts The Book of Joe podcast with Joe Maddon. A five-time Emmy Award winner across three categories (studio analyst, reporter, short form writing) and nominated in a fourth (game analyst), he is a three-time National Sportswriter of the Year winner, two-time National Magazine Award finalist, and a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient. Verducci is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame, Baseball Writers Association of America (including past New York chapter chairman) and a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 1993. He also is the only writer to be a game analyst for World Series telecasts. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, with whom he has two children.

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