Report: MLB Owners Schedule Meeting Monday After MLBPA Declines to Make Proposal

Major League Baseball owners will reportedly meet via conference call on Monday to decide their next course of action in the sport's labor dispute.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported the news Sunday, citing a source who said: "It's a shame it came to this, but it's over. It's time to move on. What are you going to do?"

The report comes after the players union officially rejected the league's latest proposal to restart a season that was initially delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Tony Clark announced the decision, and ESPN's Jeff Passan reported the players do not plan on making a counteroffer.

"If it is your intention to unilaterally impose a season, we again request that you inform us and our members of how many games you intend to play and when and where players should report," the players union said in a letter, per Passan. "It is unfair to leave players and the fans hanging at this point."

The letter also demanded the league's owners make a decision by Monday.

As Nightengale noted, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has the ability to unilaterally implement a severely shortened season with players earning full pro-rata salary and no expanded postseason. The owners will receive all of the playoff money under that format.

Manfred was given the ability to do so in the initial agreement between the two sides from March, but players have grown increasingly frustrated that the league has backed away from the full pro-rata salaries in future proposals.

That is especially true since the owners are always happy to enjoy the extra windfall in profitable years and, in the players' eyes, are not negotiating in good faith in this one year that has been dramatically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Owners have also used the media to complain that the industry isn't as profitable as some think, with Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts telling ESPN's Jesse Rogers the league's losses are "biblical" and St. Louis Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt Jr. telling local radio 590 The Fan "the industry isn't very profitable."

However, Forbes reported in April that every team but the Miami Marlins was worth more than $1 billion. The same report revealed the average team is worth nearly four times what it was 10 years ago.

The two sides remain at a stalemate, and it appears as if Manfred may eventually implement a shortened season in the near future with the owners meeting Monday.