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The Major League Baseball Players Association has turned down MLB’s latest proposal for the Universal Designated Hitter and an expanded playoff format, sources have confirmed to ESPN.
The news was first reported by MLB Network.
The union’s position has always been that they don’t want to talk about a universal DH profession – which benefits a group of players – in exchange for an extended playoffs. Nonetheless, MLB included both elements in its proposal, and that concept was rejected, according to the sources.
Universal DH and the expanded playoff format were implemented for 2020 during the shortened 60-game regular season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
NL teams have used a DH when playing in AL parks since interleave play was introduced in 1997.
The MLB implemented a 16-team playoff format for the 2020 playoffs. The top two teams from each division, along with the two remaining teams with the best records in each league, made up the eight teams in the American and national. The division winners were the top three seeds in each league, with the second-place teams being seeded 4-6, and the other two qualifiers ranked 7 and 8.
The working relationship between the two sides continues to be strained, compared to much of the interaction since the resolution of the 1994-95 players’ strike. Last summer, negotiations over the truncated 2020 season and player compensation dragged on publicly for several weeks. As MLB and the union try to sort out their unresolved issues ahead of the 2021 season, it looms on the horizon: the current collective agreement will expire in December 2021.
ESPN’s Buster Olney contributed to this report.
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