Report: MLB Discussing 2-Team 'Emergency Pool' of Unsigned Players Amid Pandemic

Major League Baseball is reportedly discussing having two teams of unsigned players located in Nashville, Tennessee, to serve as an "emergency pool" of free agents as part of the plan to start the season, according to Jayson Stark of The Athletic.

Per that report, those players would be paid $400 per week, and teams signing any of the players would be required to pay a fee.

On Tuesday, the MLB Players Association agreed to a 60-game season with training camps to open July 1, per Jeff Passan of ESPN, though some aspects of the deal have yet to be resolved.

Jim Bowden of CBS Sports reported the season will begin July 24 and last 66 days.

Stark and Passan outlined some of the altered rules that will be in place for the shortened season:

This follows nearly six weeks of contentious and fruitless negotiations between the league's owners and its players. The owners wanted the players to take a major pay cut; the players argued they had already agreed to one in March when they signed on for prorated pay and weren't interested in taking a second.

The owners then voted Monday for Commissioner Rob Manfred to mandate a season. He was allowed to do so as part of the original agreement in March.

Given the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be more wrinkles to be ironed out before baseball returns. And the gulf between the owners and players feels as wide as it has been since the 1994-95 strike. That will continue as a major storyline going forward, especially come free agency and the offseason.

But for now, baseball is coming back in what will be a unique season that will include such unprecedented rules as teams' being able to sign standby players out of Nashville.