Major League Baseball’s owners have approved the leagues proposal for starting the season, the MLB Players Association is set to vote on the proposal sometime in the next week. One of the big points in the league’s proposal has been that the players and the owners will split the revenue for this season 50/50. Not all players are on board with this idea.

Tampa Bay Rays’ pitching ace Blake Snell on Wednesday voiced his issues on playing on a reduced salary for the 2020 season, saying that he will not play and that it is “just not worth it.”

Snell said the risk is extremely high given the coronavirus pandemic. “Y’all gotta understand, man, for me to go – for me to take a pay cut is not happening, because the risk is through the roof,” Snell said while answering questions on his Twitch channel. “It’s a shorter season, less pay. No, I gotta get my money. I’m not playing unless I get mine, ok? And that’s just the way it is for me. Like, I’m sorry you guys think differently, but the risk is way the hell higher and the amount of money I’m making is way lower. Why would I think about doing that?”

The MLBPA is expected to reject the provision of the MLB’s proposal regarding the revenue split. Back in March, the league guaranteed players prorated salaries. 

The 27-year old Snell is entering year two of the five-year contract worth $50 million he signed with the Rays a few years back. The former AL Cy Young Award winner is expected to make about $7 million next season, but said that he deserves to get the money that was agreed upon between himself and the Rays. “What do you mean it should not be a thing? It should 100% be a thing. If I’m gonna play, I should be getting the money I signed to be getting paid. I should not be getting half of what I’m getting paid because the season’s cut in half, on top of a 33% cut of the half that’s already there – so I’m really getting, like, 25%. On top of that, it’s getting taxed. So imagine how much I’m actually making to play, you know what I’m saying?”

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Major League Baseball has been slowly progressing toward starting its 2020 season, with the owners approving the league’s proposal for starting the season. It is expected that the MLB Players Association will vote upon the proposal sometime this week. It is not guaranteed that players association will agree upon the terms outlined in the league’s proposal, but there is one former player who thinks the players should.

Mark Teixeira played 14 seasons in the MLB from 2003-2016, and is now an analyst for ESPN. On Tuesday appearing on ESPN’s Get Up said that he felt that the players should not negotiate and accept the proposal the owners have approved so that other issues can be taken care of and the MLB season can start as soon as possible. “Players need to understand that if they turn this deal down and shut the sport down, they’re not making a cent. I would rather make pennies on the dollar and give hope to people and play baseball than not make anything and lose an entire year off their career,” Teixeira said.

The league hopes to have abbreviated spring training in June, with the season starting in July, but that still seems unlikely as it is not expected that the players will accept the owners offer given that the players and owners will be splitting all revenue for this season. 

Teixeira does have a point in saying that if the owners and the players negotiate for an extended period of time that fans will become less inclined to watch baseball when it comes back, given how hungry people are for the return of live sports, but the fact that baseball could be coming back in the near future has fans excited.