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MLB News: League Makes New Offer To Player’s Union

On Tuesday, Major League Baseball submitted a revised economic plan to the Player’s Union for an abbreviated 2020 season. According to Bob Nightengale, the belief is that the owners will ask players to agree to a “sliding scale” for prorated salaries. In other words, those that make the most would sacrifice the most, while those that make the least will see little change.

While confirmed details of the proposal and a statement from the Player’s Union were not available at the time of this writing, Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of the Athletic believe that the Player’s Union is not too keen on the new proposal. Having already agreed to a prorated pay scale based on their contracts and the number of games they will actually play, it appears that the players still feel like they are being asked to sacrifice too much.

While it is hard to show empathy for players who are making a lot of money to play a game, it feels even harder to support owners who are making gobs of profits year in and year out, but face one year where they will take a hit due to the anticipation of no fans in attendance. Although there is hope that a season is played out this year, there are obviously a lot of hoops that still need to be jumped through (both in terms of economics and health concerns) before a season can resume.

Blake Snell Switches Agents

According to Ken Rosenthal and Josh Tolentino of The Athletic, the Tampa Bay Rays’ hurler Blake Snell is changing agencies from Apex Sports to the Boras Corporation. This is another huge gain for Scott Boras, as Snell has turned himself into a formidable ace.

Granted, it will be a while until Boras actually negotiates a deal given that Snell signed an extension that keeps him with the Rays through the 2023 season, but it is still another high-end talent that Boras will represent. It will also be interesting to see how the player-agent dynamic works as Snell has been one of a few major leaguers who have been outspoken about their concern with a return to play given the health risks (while expecting to sacrifice pay despite the increased risk).

Snell was limited last year due to health concerns as he finished 6-8 in 23 starts. In that time, he recorded a 4.29 ERA in 107 innings while striking out 147. In 2018, though, he went a very impressive 21-5 with a 1.89 ERA and 221 strikeouts in just 180.2 innings.

Jung Ho Kang Gets Suspension From KBO

It has been quite a tumultuous time for former Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang. Kang has been arrested for numerous DUI’s and, sadly, it has derailed his career.

After putting up monster numbers in the KBO, Kang signed a four-year deal with the Pirates back in 2015. In his first season, he hit .287/.355/.461 with 15 home runs, 58 runs batted in, and 60 runs scored. All of that was good enough for third in the Rookie of the Year voting.

Unfortunately, things soured as he battled multiple DUI arrests. After receiving his third DUI prior to the 2017 season, Kang could not obtain a work visa and was unable to play for the Pirates at all that season. At 33, Kang is now trying to get back into the KBO; however, he won’t be able to do it immediately.

The Korea Baseball Organization decided on a one-year suspension for Kang, which won’t begin until he formally signs with a team. According to Jee-ho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency, Kang plans to donate his salary to a charity if he signs with a club. It is a good start in what appears to be a long road to redemption.

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