Major League Baseball Players ‘Resoundingly’ Reject Owners’ Plan, Odds Lengthen on Season

Posted on: June 5, 2020, 09:27h. 

Last updated on: June 5, 2020, 11:27h.

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The Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) has “resoundingly rejected” the league and owners’ proposal to play a shortened season with reduced pay.

Major League Baseball MLB odds
Major League Baseball ballparks, such as Guaranteed Rate Field, home of the Chicago White Sox, will remain empty after the players’ union and league failed to reach a deal. (Image: Jonathan Daniel/Getty)

Owners want the 2020 MLB season to be drastically shortened to 82 games, and players paid on a per-game basis. The players have offered to cut the regular season from 162 games to 114 games, but want their full prorated salaries.

After the MLBPA Executive Board held a conference call with more than 100 players, MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark said no deal has been reached with the league owners.

In this time of unprecedented suffering at home and abroad, Players want nothing more than to get back to work and provide baseball fans with the game we all love. But we cannot do this alone,” Clark stated.

“The overwhelming consensus of the Board is that Players are ready to report, ready to get back on the field, and they are willing to do so under unprecedented conditions that could affect the health and safety of not just themselves, but their families as well. The league’s demand for additional concessions was resoundingly rejected,” Clark said.

Season Odds

Oddsmakers are itching for professional sports to resume. But the odds are lengthening that Major League Baseball will have a first pitch in 2020.

The line on a MLB season happening this year is Yes -300, No +200. Those odds respectively represent a 75 percent and 33.33 percent chance. However, the line initially opened at Yes -500, an 83.33 percent chance.

In MLB’s original 82-game proposal, a player with the minimum salary of $563,500 would receive 47 percent of his pay. But salaries would be reduced the more a player makes, with stars seeing approximately 22 percent of the money they were due to earn.

For slugger Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels, he would receive 22 percent of his $36 million contract – or about $8 million.

At 162 games, $36 million comes to $222,222 per game. At 82 games and $8 million, he would receive $97,560 per game.

MLB Futures

If players do take the field this year, oddsmakers say the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers are the teams to beat. They are both at +380 to win the World Series.

The Houston Astros are next at +750, followed by the Atlanta Braves (+1400), Minnesota Twins (+1600), and Tampa Bay Rays and Washington Nationals (+1800).

At the bottom of the league are the Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Miami Marlins, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, and Seattle Mariners – all at +50000. A $10 bet on that line would net $5,000.

As for the American League MVP, Trout is the heavy favorite at +155. Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is a distant second at +1000. In the National League, outfielders Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers and Mookie Betts of the Boston Red Sox are the frontrunners at +700.