Baseball players say talks futile, tell MLB to order return

Baseball players told Major League Baseball additional talks to start season during coronavirus pandemic are futile and said owners should order a return to work, which likely would spark lengthy litigation and sport's return to labor wars.

union's action Saturday night could lead to a season of about 50 games rar than 82 initially proposed by MLB. Major League Baseball Players Association could respond by filing a grievance that would be heard by arbitrator Mark Irvings.

Players and MLB agreed to a deal March 26 calling for prorated salaries. That deal gave baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred right to start season provided re were travel restrictions and games could be played before fans in regular-season ballparks. It called for "good faith” negotiations to play in empty ballparks or neutral sites.

MLB made three ecomic offers, last Friday, and union proposed two. sides remain far apart on how much players should get of $4 billion in salaries y originally were set to earn: MLB has offered to guarantee $1.27 billion and increase total to $1.45 billion if postseason is completed. Players want $2.25 billion.