(CNN) — Major League Baseball announced Monday that clubs have unanimously voted to proceed with the 2020 season under the terms of their agreement with the MLB Players Association from March.
Commissioner Rob Manfred will decide how many games will be played. The league wants to know if the players could be ready to report for spring training camp by July 1 and if the union will agree on health and safety protocols.
A source familiar with the talks told CNN that the league is aiming for a 60-game regular season provided that the players consent to the health and safety protocols.
The latest development comes after weeks of negotiations between the MLB and the union in which the two sides could not agree on terms for a 2020 season.
“In order to produce a schedule with a specific number of games, we are asking that the Players Association provide to us by 5:00 p.m. (ET) tomorrow with two pieces of information,” the league said in a statement Monday. “The first is whether players will be able to report to camp within seven days (by July 1st). The second is whether the Players Association will agree on the Operating Manual which contains the health and safety protocols necessary to give us the best opportunity to conduct and complete our regular season and Postseason.”
Earlier Monday, the MLBPA rejected MLB’s offer of a 60-game season.
“While we had hoped to reach a revised back to work agreement with the league, the Players remain fully committed to proceeding under our current agreement and getting back on the field for the fans, for the game, and for each other,” the MLBPA said.
The union’s last proposal to the league had been for a 70-game season with full prorated salaries.
According to the March agreement, if a partial season is played, players would receive a prorated salary. The March agreement also said that both MLB and the MLBPA would make their best effort to schedule as many games as possible for the 2020 season.
Outspoken Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer took to Twitter to express his displeasure at the continued gridlock in negotiations between the two entities.
“I believe there is a deal to be had here that is beneficial for everyone involved and I’m honestly not sure what the hold up is,” Bauer said, adding that fans, a vast majority of players and the owners all want baseball. “It’s absolute death for this industry to keep acting as it has been. Both sides. We’re driving the bus straight off a cliff.”
Bauer went on to say that these stalled negotiations are “doing irreparable damage to our industry right now over rules that last AT MOST 16 months.”
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