Baseball players agree not to contest lost salary is season is canceled

NEW YORK – Players agreed to a deal with Major League Baseball that would preserve service time in the event this season is canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic but left open details of what a configured schedule would look like.

As part of the agreement approved by the union Thursday night and by teams Friday, players will not challenge the loss of their salaries if no games are played.

Management will advance $170 million in salary payments over the first 60 days of the original schedule, and that money does not have to be returned if the season is canceled. Player salaries this year are expected to total roughly $4 billion.

Management was given the right to cut the amateur draft in both 2020 and 2021, and to freeze the values of signing bonus money at 2019 levels.

Details were divulged to the Associated Press by people familiar with the agreement who spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement was made.

Teams approved the 17-page agreement Friday, the person said.

Opening Day was to have been Thursday but was pushed to mid-May at the earliest because of the virus outbreak. The spring training schedule was cut short on March 12.

They also agreed to consider playing past the usual end of the postseason in late October and early November, even if it involves using neutral sites and domes. They would consider more doubleheaders, playing without fans and a revised postseason format.

Players considered service time the key, and older players were willing to give up money to keep younger colleagues on track for big-money contracts next offseason.

If there are no games this year, anyone currently on a 40-man roster, 60-day injured list or an outright assignment to the minor leagues with a major league contract would receive 2020 service time equaling what the player accrued in 2019. If a partial season is played, service time would be the equivalent of what the player would have received over a full schedule.