Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer made a strong statement on behalf of the MLBPA. Scherzer tweeted there is “no reason to engage with MLB in any further compensation reductions.”
Scherzer is a member of the union’s eight-player executive subcommittee. His frustration is from MLB’s proposal for players to take an additional pay cut on top of the prorated salaries the union agreed to in March due to the work stoppage forced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The proposed sliding wage scale would affect high end players and is based off an 82-game season. Players are being asked to take up to a 78% reduction in pay from their expected full pay — about 44% from their prorated pay. The calculations of the proposed cuts are astonishing.
Max Scherzer was slated to make close to $28.7 million in base salary. Based on the league’s proposed pay cuts, he would make just over $4.3 million. Meanwhile, Stephen Strasburg falls in the hardest hit line. The 2019 World Series MVP was slated to make $35 million in base salary, yet he would be subjected to make $7.84 million under the proposal.
It’s unclear if Scherzer’s statement means MLBPA is taking a hard stand. And if so, whether or not this disagreement could hamper chances of the 2020 season being played.
