In the back-and-and-forth negotiations between Major League Baseball players and owners, intended to get the 2020 season started during the coronavirus pandemic, the latest counterproposal from owners is for a micro season in the neighborhood of 50 games, ESPN reported Monday.

The owners originally proposed an 82-game regular season to start in early July, followed by playoffs. On Sunday, the MLB Players' Association countered with a 114-game season that would start June 30, followed by playoffs.

According to Monday's report, the owners are willing to relent to the players' demand of a prorated portion of salary by number of games played. But instead of meeting in the middle on how many regular-season games would be played, the owners are now considering "a schedule of around 50 games," according to the report by Jeff Passan.

Under the owners' latest proposal, the season would get under way on an unspecified date in July.

The players believe that an agreement between the sides back in March awarded them a prorated portion of their salaries based on games played. The owners believe the same agreement gives them the ability to mandate a shorter season, as well as the ability to further reduce player pay if fans are not in the stands for games.

The consensus is that a three-week renewal of spring training is needed before payers take the field. If the shortened season were to start on July 1, teams would need to return to a spring training setting by June 10.