MLB, MLBPA reach agreement for 2020 season

On what would have been the Opening Day for the 2020 season, the MLB and its Players Association have come to an agreement on the parameters for the postponed season, if it is played. The major points the two sides were working towards were the amateur draft and the players service time.

ESPN's Jeff Passan reports that the MLB has the right to shorten the 2020 draft to five rounds. It could also delay the start of the international signing period to as late as January 2021.

MLB has also considered shortening the 2021 draft to 20 rounds, and pushing back the 2021-22 international signing period to January 2022 through December 2022, per Passan.

The most biggest standout for the players: In the terrible scenario that there is no 2020 season, they will get full service time, meaning Mookie Betts, Marcel Ozuna, J.T. Realmuto and others will be free agents in November regardless of whether games are played.

For those players without six years service time who would then be up for arbitration, they have worked out how to help those players. With the season clearly being shorter, the arbitration rules will be adjusted so players are not penalized for putting up counting stats that don't stack up to past comparables. This allows players to be compensated fairly for their play in shortened season.

Passan and The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal also reported that MLB owners will be advancing players $170 million for April and May. If there is no season, that money will be kept by the players. The money will be distributed between four tiers of players, broken down as players with guaranteed contracts and three different levels of split contracts between majors and minors.

For team owners, the key was that it advanced $170M but owes nothing else if there is no season and the MLBPA agreed not to sue for lost wages. MLB players make roughly $4B in total, so owners know they will pay none of that beyond the $170M without a season.

This deal is one step towards the MLB and its players making a return to play. The only thing left to get figured out is when it will be safe for the players and staffs to return to the diamonds, and when it is safe for fans to congregate in the stands. The MLB has set its plan out, now all they can do is wait.

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