Detroit Tigers: MLBPA Proposes June 30th start

The MLBPA proposed their plan to the owners that would have them play 114 games.

Per sources familiar to ESPN, the MLBPA delivered a proposal on Sunday night to MLB that would have a return-to-play starting on June 30th. The plan could not come soon enough as both sides still seem miles apart. This is a counter to the owners’ proposal that the MLBPA rejected.

The schedule for the season starting on June 30 and run till October 31. The reason seemly behind 114 games compared to the owners’ proposal of 82 games would allow players to keep a larger amount of their salaries.

What does the MLBPA plan include

Per the source given to ESPN, here are the main components behind the players’ proposal:

• Expanded playoffs for two years; MLB’s proposal suggests one year of a postseason that goes from 10 teams to 14.
• A salary advance of $100 million to split among players during the so-called “spring training 2.0” that leads up to the regular season.
• More players to wear microphones up during games
• Having the All-Star Game or Home Run Derby during the off-season to generate additional revenue.

All four ideas are fantastic ideas. Based on social media feedback, fans seem to dig when the players are mic’d up. If you look back at spring training 2020, players seem to have a blast doing it too.

An off-season All-Star Game or Home Run Derby would be a great idea for an event say in December or the week before the Super Bowl in which there are not a lot of sports going on. Personally, I would love to see a skills competition if this idea actually happen. One would be players hitting at targets, accuracy skills for pitchers to hit targets with various pitches at home plate.

While the MLBPA expect the plan to be rejected based on perhaps the $100 million salary advance, one other detail of the plan that was interesting was players who have preexisting conditions or family members that could be exposed to COVID-19, they could opt out of the season and still receive a salary.

Random Detroit Tigers news from the over the weekend

As of Sunday night, so far, nothing has come out if the Tigers will continue to play their minor league players.

Evan Woodbery of Mlive.com reported that Miguel Cabrera collaborated on a rap album during the quarantine. The song is called “Miggy al bate”.  If you are looking to get yourself motivated on a Monday, this is a catchy track.