MLB's latest proposal for a 76-game season doesn't help matters

Reports that MLB would not offer another proposal for resuming play apparently were false, as the league apparently sent the players association a new proposal on Monday.

Too bad it isn't going to bring us much closer to starting the 2020 season.

Here are the particulars:

• There would be a 76-game regular season, ending Sept. 27. Playoffs would conclude at the end of October, as per usual.
• Players would only be guaranteed 50% of their already prorated salaries for the regular season. If the postseason is completed without a "second wave" of COVID-19 in the fall, players would receive up to 75% of their prorated salaries.
• Draft pick compensation would be removed for the upcoming free agent class. In other words, if you sign a free agent next offseason, you don't have to forfeit a draft pick to the team that you signed the player away from. In the past, this rule has been cited as a reason why teams shy away from signing veteran free agents.

This deal is not going to interest the union, and here's why: Even if the postseason goes off without a hitch and this plan is seen through to its entirety, players would receive only 35 percent of their usual salaries.

By way of comparison, if commissioner Rob Manfred unilaterally imposed a 50-game season with players receiving prorated salaries -- which Manfred is allowed to do according to a deal agreed upon in March -- players would receive only 31 percent of their usual salaries.

If you're a player, do you want to play 26 more games -- and risk your health 26 more times -- for such a small increase in pay? I'm guessing not.

The owners' first proposal included 82 games and a "sliding scale" of salaries, and the players' cut in this 76-game proposal is only percentage points higher.

In other words, the owners are basically proposing the same thing over and over again: 82 games, 50 games, 76 games, it doesn't matter. All of these proposals have the players receiving roughly the same amount of salary.

The owners want the public to believe they've moved, going from 50 games to 76, but in the players' eyes, they haven't really moved at all.

It's still hard to be optimistic that we'll see baseball this summer, even with the country crying out for entertainment and some normalcy.