MLB Revenue Proposal to Players is a Step in the Right Direction but Not Good Enough

It was revealed earlier on Tuesday that MLB owners and players were holding a meeting to discuss the fate of the 2020 season. Now, the details are beginning to leak, and they suggest that this stalemate is going to drag out much longer than previously anticipated.

Instead of prorating salaries on a revenue-sharing split, league insider Jon Heyman reports that owners are introducing a sliding compensation scale. This would see players earning the most money taking the biggest hits. Those that pocket less will receive more of their guaranteed salaries, with the union determining the exact percentages of the splits.

MLB has conveyed its first proposal to players. MLB has dropped the revenue sharing idea and is offering to pay players a percentage of their prorated pay (not the full 100 percent). It’s a sliding scale with the more expensive players taking bigger hits.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 26, 2020

The MLBPA was concerned that revenue sharing would lead to the future implementation of a salary cap, so it's encouraging to see that is no longer on the table. However, that might be the only positive to take from today's consultation, as players would be taking an additional pay cut in this proposal.

No deadline for a compromise has been set, but both sides would likely need to reach one within the next 10 days if the season has any chance at starting by the targeted July 4 weekend timetable.

MLB players were never going to go for revenue sharing, especially with limited time to figure it all out. Hearing from some this is a bit better but there’s still a lot of work to do.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 26, 2020

While this proposal figures to sit well with more players than the initial blueprint, there's really no chance that the union votes to approve this. It was never expected that the owners were going to cave easily, if at all, so fans will have to continue to exemplify patience.