Houston Astros: Voting for MLB’s 60-game proposal today likely won’t pass

The Houston Astros season continues to be up in the air and the players are reportedly going to vote on the MLB’s proposal today. It likely won’t pass. Why?

The start of the Houston Astros season continues to be up in the air as both the MLB and MLBPA are battling with each other on how best to start the season, make sure that the players are compensated accordingly and keeping them as safe as possible.

That still remains up the air as it appears as a glorified wargame where two ships are exchanging shots across bows only to still be in the same position as they started, with neither side offering a retreat or a resolution to the conflict.

It’s a sticky situation for the MLB as they want to make sure their bottom line is taking care of, players are kept safe but they don’t want to bankrupt the league in order to keep the players happy.

The players just want an equitable share for their services because after all, they’re the ones that bring home the bacon and they’re the ones that we want to see, not the owners or executives so it’s important that the MLBPA hold the line on their negotiations.

The key points of the MLBPA proposal include a 70-game season, an even-split of revenues in the 2021 season, $50 million in playoff bonuses and a mutual waiver for the right for players to grieve issues.

I think the 50/50 split of 2021 revenues will be the conversation-stopper and they’ll be right back at the table again trying to figure something else.

Will we be able to see Jose Altuve, George Springer, Justin Verlander, Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa among others in 2020?   The questions still remain.

The Player’s Association was originally going to wait a few days to vote on the MLB’s 60-game proposal because of the COVID-19 outbreak in Florida, where a lot of teams are training right now but MLB Insider Jon Heyman confirms that a vote will happen today because of the length of time it will take for new, reliable numbers to come in.

One Houston Astros player has tested positive for the coronavirus and was at the team’s facility in West Palm Beach, Fla. and training has been shutdown league-wide there because of the outbreak.

The 60-game proposal includes a mid-July start, players would earn their full prorated salaries —

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equal to $1.5 billion or 37 percent of what they’d make in a full season — $25 million in postseason pool money and $33 million of forgiveness in the $170 million advanced to the players back in March to keep players paid.

The proposal also expands the playoffs from 10 to 16 teams, have a designated hitter in each league and $10 million would be earmarked for social justice initiatives.  In addition, the players would agree to waive their right to grieve workplace issues that they may have.

The grievance issue will be another stickler because it’s important that right be given to players because it ensures the league would have the upper hand.

But in the MLBPA’s proposal, they’d agree to do it but they want more games and obviously more money.

When one thinks things are so close, it’s absolutely amazing as to how far apart that they really are in coming to an agreement.

Although the good ‘ol force majeure is always in the negotiating back pocket, it’s clearly obvious that it’s simply not an option and having a season is vital to some sense of continuity through this pandemic.

We’ll see what happens — Tony Clark, MLBPA’s top executive, has his work cut out for him…