Red Sox News: Jerry Remy calls MLB’s latest proposal “non-negotiable”

Former Boston Red Sox player Jerry Remy says MLB and the MLBPA remain miles apart based on the latest “non-negotiable” proposal.

Jerry Remy spent a decade playing in the majors, including seven seasons with the Boston Red Sox. He’s been on the side of the player’s union through economic battles before. While he’s now playing the role of impartial analyst, there was no way for Remy to avoid calling Major League Baseball out for their latest ridiculous proposal.

MLB owners presented the player’s union with a new proposal this week that called for an 82-game schedule with a plan that would lead to drastic pay cuts for players on top of the prorated salaries they already agreed to. The proposal includes a sliding scale limiting players to a percentage of their original salary with the highest paid stars being hit with the most drastic reductions, reportedly up to 75 percent.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan outlined tiers of potential salary cuts to highlight how much these players stand to lose.

During an appearance on “NESN After Hours” on Wednesday, Remy explained why this proposal has zero chance of being accepted by the players.

"“I knew once they came out with the proposal yesterday, I knew immediately that within a half hour we’d start to hear from the players association that this is not going to go,” said Remy."

Sure enough, Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, a member of the MLBPA’s executive subcommittee, took to social media to express his disappointment with the proposal. The three-time Cy Young winner, who stands to be among the most impacted by these pay cuts considering he’s one of the game’s highest-paid players, claims there’s no reason for the players to engage in any negotiations that lead to further compensation reductions.

In other words, the owners need to stop trying to take more money from the players or there won’t be a season.

Passan reported on ESPN that the MLBPA is expected to counter with a plan that includes 100+ games and full prorated salaries for the 2020 season.

The longer this stalemate continues, the less feasible it will be to squeeze in that many games. MLB needs to restart spring training within the next couple of weeks to have a realistic chance of meeting their early-July goal for Opening Day. How far back can they push the timeline and still expect to fit a half-season, let alone 100+ games, without playing into December?

We’re running out of time to realistically come to terms on a schedule that includes as many games as the players wish for. They need to hash this out quickly in order for that to happen but that’s not even the biggest hurdle. The sides still can’t agree on the money.

Unfortunately, nothing we’ve learned from MLB’s latest proposal or the union’s expected counter-offer leads us to believe that the sides are anywhere near an agreement on the financial aspect.

"“The owners are going to have to give a lot more than what they did yesterday,” said Remy. “What they gave yesterday was non-negotiable, really. And this is miles and miles apart right now.”"

MLB claims that their owners stand to lose too much money by playing games without fans, which is why they insist on the players taking further pay cuts. However, those owners also refuse to open their books to prove to the players exactly how devastating this loss of revenue would be. Do these billionaires really expect players to blindly accept significantly reduced salaries without any proof that it isn’t merely an excuse for the owners to stuff their pockets at their expense?

Remy admitted that he sees no end to this stalemate and it’s hard to disagree. Both sides appear entrenched on their stance and there simply isn’t enough trust between them to bridge the gap.