MLB players’ union weighs in on health proposals suggested by team owners

Bob
Published by:
Posted on: May 22, 2020 5:55 pm EDT

Players don’t believe owners are willing to do enough to protect them

While MLB gets closer to finalizing the necessary steps of health and safety protocols to face the coronavirus pandemic in order to resume games for this year’s season, the players’ union has weighed in on this 67-page document presented by the MLB. According to multiple reports, the association just sent the response to this document on Thursday, and the back-and-forth of communication might just be beginning as it seems that the association has made an opinion about several aspects in the proposal like testing frequency, positive test protocols and protection of high-risk players and family members, just to name a few.

Separately from any response given by the players’ association, several players have expressed publicly their concern about a portion of the proposal in which it is forbidden the use of hydrotherapy pools and clubhouse showers. On the other hand, since the common goal is to limit the spread of the virus, it should not be a difficult battle to negotiate these terms with players and owners.

A different situation could be faced for financial proposal negotiations, which owners had been waiting to present to the union until after the health proposal was returned. With the dramatic changes brought by the pandemic, it is possible that health-and-safety negotiations set the tone for any financial talks in the future. Having both of these groups working together on an agreement for the health and safety matters can help both parties to have a better working relationship. This can be useful as tension rises in the air due to the revenue splitting proposal, which is part of the owners’ proposal that the union did not see with good eyes.