Report: MLB wants to cut umpires' salaries during shortened season

Major League Baseball and its umpires are involved in heated negotiations regarding the arbiters' salaries in the event of a shortened 2020 season, sources told Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

The league is hoping to cut umps' regular-season pay by 35% if games are played this year, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Umpires offered to take a 20% cut of their total annual income, which includes postseason pay and daily per diem, according to Rosenthal.

Umpires held an eight-hour Zoom meeting Wednesday to discuss MLB's latest proposal, according to Rosenthal. There is a split among the umpires as to whether to accept MLB's offer.

"We understand the hardships of this pandemic, but there are a lot of concerns," a veteran umpire told Nightengale. "If you cut (longtime ump) Joe West's salary in half, he would still make a couple of hundred thousand. If you cut our young umpires' salaries in half, it will cripple them and take years to recover.

"We just want to be treated fairly."

MLB currently employs 76 full-time umpires, whose base salaries range from $110,000 to $432,000, according to Rosenthal. They also receive four weeks of vacation during the season and postseason bonuses; MLB also contributes to the umps' pension programs.