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Baseball Back to Full Swing?

retro Mac Ingram 20 May 2020

With the world still enduring the COVID-19 pandemic, Major League Baseball is rapidly trying to figure out how to open the 2020 season. On Tuesday, May 12th, meetings were held between commissioner, Rob Manfred, and the league’s thirty owners. The meetings addressed key questions that needed to be answered before beginning the already delayed baseball season. At the end of those meetings, the commissioner and owners signed off on a proposal, but the biggest hurdle remains in getting the players union to agree to a deal.

 

The major points of the proposal included the following:

  • A shortened season down from 162 regular season games to 82 games
  • Expanded post season tournament from 10 teams to 14, with games being played in home stadiums
  • Spring training in mid-June, with Opening day taking place in the first week of July; maybe on July 4th
  • Games taking place between regional opponents; some home stadiums being used, otherwise games will take place in neutral regional stadiums
  • No fans allowed in stadiums
  • 50/50 revenue split between owners and players

 

These changes all come with one goal in mind – limiting the risk for the players and keeping the competition as safe as possible. Some details however will need to be ironed out before the players take the field:

Shortened season

Shortening the season is essential at this point due to the season already being delayed almost two months from late March/early April, and because the players will need the month of June for “Spring Training” to get reacclimated. The abbreviated season will also limit the amount of exposure the players have to the virus or having their bodies break down from fatigue/injury. An issue that still needs to be resolved is if players will be allowed to live in their homes during the season or live in dorm-like facilities or hotels. Being away from their homes and families is understandably not going to sit well with the players, however.

Limiting travel

Another way to limit exposure and keep players close to home is to play regional games against divisional opponents and interleague opponents in the same area of the country. Limiting travel is an essential practice that will require games to potentially take place in Spring Training facilities in Florida and Arizona. All MLB teams have facilities in one of these states, so some of the infrastructure is already in place for training, living, and playing games. Any way to avoid players getting on planes and staying in hotels will be ideal. Games at these facilities would take place with no fans, but the league would still be able to make revenue off their TV deal.

2020 revenue

The biggest talking point from this proposal will be what happens with the league’s revenue for 2020. Players are already coming out in protest of the proposed 50/50 revenue split, with some even considering not playing in 2020. A couple of players have been vocal about the pay cuts not being fair given the risk of injury and higher chances of contracting the virus. Some even believe the league is using the pandemic to implement a salary cap, something owners have been trying to do for years, but have been unsuccessful.

In summary

If the players and owners still cannot come to a compromise after weeks of negotiating, there is a small possibility of the 2020 season never happening. Let’s hope it does not come to this, and they can reach a deal to get baseball back into swing for 2020 and beyond. Most people in the country are ready to return a sense of normalcy and baseball can help in that recovery effort.