MLB has reportedly had its plans for the 2020 season approved by team owners, but the biggest hurdle now has become players' pay.

With mega-agent Scott Boras saying earlier this week that the players he represents have already agreed to a pay reduction and they will not be willing to renegotiate that agreement, things could get ugly between the owners and players.

But one former Yankee doesn't believe things need to be that way.

Mark Teixeira, currently an analyst for ESPN, said Tuesday on Get Up that the players simply cannot turn down any deal that would help bring back the game.

"Players need to understand that if they turn this deal down and shut the sport down, they're not making a cent," Teixeira said. "I would rather make pennies on the dollar and give hope to people and play baseball than not make anything and lose an entire year off their career."

Earlier in March, the players agreed to a deal that would see their salaries prorated based on how many games MLB is able to schedule for the season. But that deal was reached with the assumption that fans would be in attendance for the games. Now that fans in the seats doesn't seem to be feasible (at least at the start of the season), owners want players to accept a new deal.

"If [a potential 2020 MLB season] blows up over money, they will lose fans that they will never get back. And they will deserve it."@Espngreeny and @teixeiramark25 are urging MLB players to accept the return-to-play proposal. pic.twitter.com/npOuO4kOFT
- Get Up (@GetUpESPN) May 12, 2020

What MLB is now reportedly proposing is a 50-50 revenue split, which players union chair Tony Clark has spoken out against, calling it a salary cap for players.

Teixeira, who played eight seasons with the Yankees from 2009-16, wants Clark and the union to be more understanding of the current global situation.

"The problem is that you have people all over the world taking pay cuts, losing their jobs, losing their lives, frontline workers putting their lives at risk," Teixeira said. "These are unprecedented times. This is the one time that I would advocate for the players accepting a deal like this, a 50-50 split of revenues. It's not that crazy.

"If you really think about it and boil it down to what the players usually get from a revenue standpoint, it's actually lower than 50 percent of the baseball revenue for a full season. So, if I'm a player, I don't like it. But I'm going to do whatever I have to do to play and that means taking this deal."

SNY Insider Andy Martino has reported that not all agents agree with Boras' strong stance, and that some would prefer to tone down the rhetoric, as to not carry on a back-and-forth via the media.

Video: MLB Owners Approve 2020 Plan, Players Vote Next

Popular in the Community