Max Scherzer Says Players Have ‘No Reason’ To Discuss More Pay Reductions With MLB

Major League Baseball and the players’ union have been at odds with each other for weeks regarding a return to play plan, most notably butting heads over the issue of compensation. Unlike the NBA, NHL, and other salary cap leagues where players are paid based off of a percentage split of revenue with ownership, MLB does not have the same agreement through collective bargaining.

The two sides initially agreed to split pay based on the number of games played in a shortened, restarted season, but owners have since issued new requests that players take an even larger pay reduction, trying to pit the highest paid players against lower paid players by issuing a tiered paycut that sees the smaller salaries cut in half and top salaries cut by more than 75 percent.

Unsurprisingly, players have scoffed at that demand and, as such, the two sides seem significantly further apart than the union and ownership in any other major sports league. On Wednesday night, Nationals star pitcher Max Scherzer offered an incredibly strong statement explaining that the players now believe there is no reason to discuss any further pay reduction structure with owners and believes the public should see full documentation on MLB’s financials because it would shift perspective on what players should be giving up.

If there weren’t significant pessimism about the ability of the two sides to bridge the gap, this signals just how wide it is and just how strongly players like Scherzer feel about their stance — and, as he says, he feels a lot of players are on the same page. Scherzer occupies a prominent position in the players union on their Executive Sub-Committee, so his statement isn’t just strong but comes from a big position in the union and indicates the players association won’t be coming with a counter offer in terms of pay reductions and a stalemate may just exist.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan confirmed the union will indeed be sending a new proposal to ownership later this week, but that they will not include pay reductions.