Major League Baseball unveiled its plan for the 2020 season, which includes a 50/50 revenue split between players and owners. Whether players sign off on that, however, remains to be seen.
“One hundred percent of the revenue is gone,” JR SportBrief said on CBS Sports Radio. “You now agree, basically, to 50 percent of the revenue. Major League Baseball may tap you on the shoulder and say, ‘Hey, you’re probably going to have to take a little bit less.’ Now, do the players agree and say, ‘Okay, well, instead of taking less money, we just won’t play?’ Because then they probably get punished again next year for setting a precedent for taking less money again this season.
“Ultimately, in my opinion, I think we’ll have some type of baseball,” JR continued. “I don’t fault the players for saying, ‘Hey, we want to stand firm, and we’ve taken a pay cut.’ I don’t fault them for trying to keep their share. Because obviously they don’t think it’s fair for what the owners are getting, even though the owners are getting chopped down at the legs as well by not being able to have fans in these baseball stadiums.”
While many might be frustrated by millionaires quibbling about money during a pandemic, JR understands where the players are coming from.
“I’m not mad at the players,” he said. “Unfortunately, this is something that has to get leveraged in the public. It gets leveraged in the media by folks like me speaking about it. But the reality is everybody’s hurting, and if there is no Major League Baseball this season, guess who’s going to hurt not only this year but next year and the following year? It’s going to be the players and their wallets and it’s going to be the owners again.
“I ultimately think with everything going on that we’re going to have some type of baseball this season,” he continued. “It’s just a matter of who’s in agreement to play and how much money they take.”