MLB announces plans for 2020 season
MLB is on the horizon! Like every sport in the US, Major League Baseball is on hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Spring training came to a sudden halt back in March and Opening Day still has no definite date on the calendar. Now, there could be a light at the end of the tunnel.
CBS Sports is reporting that MLB and the MLBPA will soon begin the process of planning the 2020 season.
CBS Sports HQ’s Jim Bowden confirmed that the league and union will meet Monday to discuss a proposal, with the league expected to submit a plan on Tuesday.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the breaking news on Saturday. Once again, nothing is set in stone, but a season looks hopeful.
Here is a quick excerpt from The Athletic and what Rosenthal said on how things may play out if and when the season gets rolling this July.
• Teams would open in as many home parks as possible, with even New York — the major-league city hardest hit by the coronavirus — potentially in play by early July.
Teams unable to open in their cities temporarily would relocate, either to their spring training sites or major-league parks in other parts of the country. The same would apply to spring training 2.0 if the league decides to use mostly home parks as opposed to returning to Florida and Arizona.
Not all clubs agree they should train in their home parks, believing spring locales offer a less densely populated, more controlled environment.
• Expanded playoffs similar to the idea in February, with an increase from five to seven teams in each league.
Under this plan, the team with the best record in each league would receive a bye in the wild-card round and advance to the Division Series. The two other division winners and wild card with the best record would face the bottom three wild cards in a best-of-three wild-card round.
• Because games, at least initially, will be played without fans, the players would be asked to accept a further reduction in pay, most likely by agreeing to a set percentage of revenues for this season only.
Right now I think it is safe to say that most MLB fans wouldn’t mind if the players played in front of no fans at first just to get the season started. I know I wouldn’t!
