Earlier this week, the MLB came out with a proposal to restart the 2020 season. Here are five popular questions regarding the proposal and how it will impact the upcoming MLB season.
What does the schedule look like?
Due to the fact that three months of the season will have been lost as Opening Day comes around on July 4th, the schedule has been chopped in half, with 82 games instead of the standard 162. That would put the MLB close to the college level, with every game even more so having an impact on a team’s chances to make the postseason. In college, star players are rarely given a day off, especially in conference play. The case would probably be similar for this season in the MLB. You won’t see the New York Yankees playing the Los Angeles Dodgers in a primetime matchup either. It will be a strictly regional schedule, so most teams would play just ten teams in a season (Cubs would play only AL and NL Central teams). Not to mention, west coast teams in California would most likely be playing somewhere other than their home stadiums due to continued lockdown orders in California. However, teams that can play in their home stadiums will, so the Texas Rangers should be able to open up in their new field Globe Life Field, and Arizona will definitely be playing at home after a new order by governor Doug Ducey which allows pro sports to be played in the state. Spring Training 2.0 as folks are calling it, is set to take place at each team’s home ballpark beginning in mid-June.
What about the players?
The popular question regarding baseball’s return is, what will teams do if players are injured and the minor league season is not played? The proposal has an answer for that one too. Rosters would be expanded from 26 to 30 players and teams would be allowed an additional group of 20 minor league prospects on a “taxi” squad, a group of players who are inactive but can be added to the active roster at any point in time. Very similar to a practice squad in the NFL.
Player’s opinions?
It is safe to say that the players are thrilled with the opportunity to play baseball, but not equally as thrilled by the salary implications it will cause. The proposal calls for a 50-50 revenue split, which would rock the world of the MLB. Unlike other sports (NFL, NBA, NHL to name a few) there is no salary cap, so money is not distributed amongst the league with a standard capped system to ensure all teams receive some of the money the league brings in. This year, the MLB wants to change that, and split the money between the players and the league, with players getting 50% of their contracts for playing 50% of the games. That seems perfectly logically, especially if you consider the good of baseball as a whole, not just for the few stars who want to receive all their money because they signed a 50 million dollar deal last season. More to come on that over the weekend, so stay tuned. This shares resemblance of the 1994 strike which promptly ended the 1994 season after the MLB disagreed with the MLBPA over adopting a salary cap. In addition, some of the players’ agents will not receive commissions and quickly put the agents out of business. So unless the negotiations regarding salary can be ironed out and compromised on, the MLB season will most likely not go ahead. That is, of course, something nobody wants because it would further put teams in debt. However, if the players hold out and do not play, a situation that involves no season at all could come into view. At the same time, both the players association and MLB have been in constant talks to try to come to a decision on a restart plan that would still allow players to be paid, but not sink the league into a financial crisis.
Displaced teams?
If the season were to go ahead in July, there are a few teams that certainly would not be playing in their home stadiums, unless something were to dramatically change. Those would be the four teams in California (LA Dodgers, LA Angels, San Diego Padres and Oakland Athletics) as well as New York City’s two teams (Mets and Yankees). Others possibly to have to play outside their home state are the Phillies and Pirates, and the Miami Marlins may be forced to play outside Miami. The good news for these teams is that there would be a place to land and play home games, as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said all pro sports are welcome to practice and play in the state, while the University of Florida is open to having teams possibly use their facilities even through the fall. Arizona is open for pro sports too, and Texas should be close on their heels. Together Texas, Florida and Arizona could acquire a couple of new teams for the 2020 season if it becomes necessary.
Postseason?
The postseason will be a bit of a larger group for 2020, as 14 teams, instead of the standard 10 will make the postseason. With this said, it should diminish the frustration of teams who will say that there was not enough time to make a chase for the division title with only half of the typical schedule played.
In addition, NL managers should be thrilled as the designated hitter rule will apply to both the AL and NL starting this season. It will give the NL the offensive advantage it always claimed it did not have. Cubs fans will soon be thankful Kyle Schwarber can be in the lineup more often as his hitting is second to none on the team, but fielding can make for multiple error games, and was unfortunately the reason cited by former skipper Joe Maddon as to why he did not see as much time on the field the past couple of seasons.
For more info and questions answered, check out ESPN’s Jeff Passan’s recent article on the MLB’s most recent restart proposal: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29161983/passan-20-questions-why-financial-battle-2020-mlb-season-get-really-really-ugly
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