Trevor Bauer: MLB's return-to-play proposal is 'laughable'

Safe to say Trevor Bauer doesn't like MLB's plan to return to play. Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Trevor Bauer: MLB's return-to-play proposal to players is 'laughable'

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 5/13/20

Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Trevor Bauer isn't a fan of the return-to-play proposal offered by MLB to the players that includes a 50-50 revenue split amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Bauer referred to the plan as "laughable" and also spoke in length about the proposal in a video uploaded to YouTube on Wednesday:

My reaction to the @Mlb return to play proposal. It’s laughable. @AgentRachelLuba makes some very good points here regarding the proposed revenue split and the problems with it. https://t.co/2CBH1FlRyK
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) May 13, 2020

Rachel Luba, Bauer's agent, has also lashed out at the owners' offer:

MLB / Owners asking players to agree to additional reductions in their salaries is a joke.
— Rachel Luba (@AgentRachelLuba) May 12, 2020

Same song and dance from @mlb. Leak a story. Negotiate through the media. Make players out to be the bad guys. Players already agreed to a pay cut. We negotiated. WE HAVE AN AGREEMENT. Now they want to go back on it so they can make more money? GTFO. @AgentRachelLuba is spot on. pic.twitter.com/cHpmVTj6cu
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) May 13, 2020

"We had lawyers on both sides negotiate, in good faith, and agree to terms," Luba said on Wednesday. "And now, one side is basically asking the other side to go back on the agreement and give a little bit more."

Despite the fact that MLB and the MLB Players Association agreed in March that the league would pro-rate salaries if the pandemic shortened the season, three-time All-Star and current analyst Mark Teixeira, as well as ESPN personality Mike Greenberg, both urged the players to accept the deal while speaking on "Get Up" Tuesday morning.

"If this thing blows up over money, they will lose fans they will never get back," Greenberg warned. "And they will deserve it."

While the two negotiating parties may not be close to an agreement, ESPN's Jeff Passan nevertheless remains confident a deal will get done and that there will be big league baseball this summer and fall:

Nothing about MLB and the MLBPA’s talks Tuesday changed the calculus in any negotiation right now: Both parties have far too much to lose to allow something as solvable as money to wreck a season. Talked more about it with @Espngreeny on @GetUpESPN this morning. pic.twitter.com/YvrDcoVsMA
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 13, 2020

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