BASEBALL CONTINUES NEGOTIATIONS TO OPEN SEASON

Major League Baseball has proposed cutting the salaries of the highest-paid players in baseball, with the lowest-paid players taking lesser cuts from their full prorated shares, in its first economic proposal to the MLB Players Association.

Sources say the long-awaited plan, which was delivered to the union Tuesday afternoon, proposes that high-salaried players take significant reductions of what they will be paid during a prospective season.

While the size of the pay cuts is unclear, sources said the highest-paid players under the proposal would receive perhaps less than 40% of their full-season salaries.

Under that deal, players would receive slightly more than 50% of their agreed-upon salary over an 82-game season.

MLB has disputed that agreement, believing that the language calls for a good-faith negotiation if games start without fans in the stands, which they would in early July with a deal.