Play ball! MLB sets 60-game schedule, Braves to report to camp next week

ATLANTA — After nearly three months of negotiations, the Major League Baseball Players Association and the league have come to an agreement that will send players to camps by July 1 and play a 60-game season.

“All remaining issues have been resolved and Players are reporting to training camps,” the union tweeted Tuesday night.

MLB announced in a statement the season will start either July 23 or 24 and games will be played at home ballparks.

“Major League Baseball is thrilled to announce that the 2020 season is on the horizon. We have provided the Players Association with a schedule to play 60 games and are excited to provide our great fans with Baseball again soon,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.

The 60 games are expected to be broken down into 40 division games and 20 interleague play based on geographical divisions: NL East vs AL East, NL Central vs AL Central, NL West vs AL West.

That means the Atlanta Braves would play 10 games versus the Marlins, Mets, Nationals and Phillies and four games versus the Blue Jays, Orioles Rays, Red Sox and Yankees.

By choosing a season of 60 games, the league will pack in about as many games as it can through Sept. 27, which is the league’s self-imposed cutoff for the regular season to end.

Players will earn around 37-percent of their full-season salary as long as the schedule is completed.

There would be a normal 10-team playoff, with a World Series in October.

“Players will not receive forgiveness on the $170 million salary advance they received as part of the March agreement and will get no money from the postseason,” ESPN reported.

Spring training was suspended on March 12, two weeks ahead of scheduled openers, and the sides have reverted to the familiar financial infighting that fractured the sport in the past.

More bickering and turmoil lies ahead. Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement expires on Dec. 1, 2021, and the virus damaged the already deteriorated relationship and became just another of the financial issues that point toward a spring training lockout ahead of the 2022 season.

MORE DETAILS.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report

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