Baseball’s clock is ticking and has been for some time.

Originally, it was expected MLB would begin its shortened 2020 season in early July should it have been deemed safe to play. But multiple reports indicated last week a return date that soon is now impossible given the fact the MLB and Major League Baseball Players Association have not been able to come to an agreement on an economic structure for a shortened season.

But while time has moved forward, the two sides have not come any closer to an agreement, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

"We are exactly where we were a month ago. There has been no progress made and that’s the most frustrating part of this whole thing," he told SportsCenter.

In fact, Passan says the most recent proposal from the MLB – a 76-game regular season that pays players 75 per cent of their prorated salaries should the league complete a postseason – is essentially the same thing as the 50-50 revenue split they were thinking of proposing approximately one month ago. The league never officially made the proposal knowing it would be instantly shot down following comments made by union head Tony Clark and superagent Scott Boras.

"I look back at May 12, it was about a month ago now. Major League Baseball was about to go to the players – never did – but wanted to go to the players and say ‘Let’s do a 50-50 revenue split. Let’s just cut all the money that we make this year right down the middle split it evenly.’ The players said ‘No way, no chance, that wreaks of a salary cap,’" Passan said.

"Here we are almost a month later and yesterday’s proposal, if it really played out to fruition and all the playoffs were played, players would make $1.43 billion. Do you know how much money Major League Baseball projects to make in 2020? Two-point-eight-seven billion dollars. That is a 50-50 split."

The most recent proposal the union sent to the league included a 114-game regular season with full prorated salaries and two seasons of expanded playoffs.

"The fans need to know it’s not taking baseball anywhere good," Passan added. "In that the more time that the sport spends arguing over these positions that seem to be completely intractable, the less time there is to actually play baseball games which is the whole point of this thing, right?"

Multiple reports indicate an agreement reached on March 26 has further contributed to the disconnect as the two sides can’t even agree to what they agreed on in the first place. While it was decided that players would be paid their full salaries relative to games players in a shortened season, the league believes the agreement allowed discussions to re-open in good faith should games be unable to take place without fans in attendance. With the reality of that being the case in most – if not all – markets should the league return this summer, owners are seeking further concessions from players. The MLBPA disagrees and every proposal it has sent to the league has included players receiving their full prorated salaries.

Despite the grim nature of negotiations, many around baseball still believe there will be a 2020 season played since commissioner Rob Manfred has the ability to mandate a regular season schedule of any length he desires. Under this scenario, players would receive their full salaries, leading Passan and others to report the likelihood of a mandated season being in the neighbourhood of 50 games.

Multiple reports indicate that if the two sides are not able to work out a deal and the league does mandate a season, it could drive an even bigger wedge between the MLB and MLBPA with the CBA expected to expire at the end of 2021.

Opening Day was originally scheduled for March 26 before COVID-19 forced the league to push back the start of his season indefinitely.