As anticipated, an agreement regarding the coronavirus-driven suspension of the 2020 season has resulted in a freezing of MLB rosters, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter. A date for the resumption of transactions will be set in the future.
As part of their negotiations, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association have also reached a set of understandings regarding the resumption of play. Jeff Passan of ESPN.com (Twitter links) reported the details. Roster movement will be permitted once a new Opening Day can be scheduled.
It isn’t fully clear whether the sides have specifically agreed to restrictions as part of their collectively bargained special exceptions to the Basic Agreement. But it seems at minimum the mutual intention is to wait until baseball can conduct business in much the usual fashion before starting the season.
Per Passan, the league and union do not wish to begin play if fans cannot be present. Thus, a lifting of bans on mass gatherings will be a precondition to the start of the season — though he adds there’s a “caveat” by which neutral sits and empty stadiums can be considered as needed.
It’s good there’s some flexibility baked into this set of understandings, as there are no guarantees as to whether and when typical staging of ballgames will be possible. Even if some number of fans are ultimately permitted in to watch a contest, that would always be subject to change.
Much the same holds true of one of the other requirements for resuming play identified by Passan: a lack of travel restrictions. We don’t yet know what kinds of domestic transportation modifications we’ll end up facing in this crisis, but it seems likely the approach will evolve over time as needs change in various areas.
The final main consideration for holding contests is the review of medical experts to ensure it is safe to those on hand. MLB’s precise plans aren’t clear; perhaps the league will engage a consultant to guide the process.
It’s certainly good to hear that the league and union intend to ensure their actions won’t pose a health risk to those involved in the game and/or the broader public. But the set of requirements also seems rather steep given where things stand now in the effort to contain the deadly pathogen. In particular, much as we’d all love to see the game played in front of live audiences, it seems as if that’ll be awfully difficult to pull off in the near term given the vast ongoing uncertainty.
And that’s the death knell of the season
With rosters frozen, does that mean players can’t be added to the IL? I.e Syndergaard, Sale, etc
Correct.
Does it matter?
My heart hurts.
All you people will be thinking there will be no baseball this year what are you smoking. Odds are baseball resume probably around July and they will probably get in about 80 games. Also owners not wanting to do games without fans is just their way of saying “the hell with the fans we want to make money“.
This.
You seem very dim.
80 games would be a joke 100 game or gtfo
81 is exactly half of the season. why does it need to be a nice round number?
Well Darkside some peoples small minds can only comprehend even numbers for some reason
Yeah, what are we…NBA fans? Actually, 80 would be awesome at this point. The second half of the season is often waaaaay different than the first for half the teams.
If its 80 or zero….ill take 80,,, seems pretty simple
I’d take an 80 came season. Division only play. 20 games against each. One wild card for the next best record. Not perfect but the only way it matters to fans that aren’t in fantasy leagues is rivalries. That will create passion. The Mets playin 20 games each against the Nats, Phils and Braves. Same in each division.
Actually a very cool idea!!!!!!-
Have 6 neutral cites ; have every Div play 20 per each team 80 games total !!!!
I actually really really like that… even if its super late you can fit a lot more games with the neutral cites with double headers etc…would be kinda fun too for a Div like the NL east…. might be stealing this idea of yours for the future better trademark that!
This is terrible.
I will also take 80 over zero games
What makes baseball special are the individual stadiums and how teams build in large part because of the uniqueness of each ballpark. I realize it’s only one season but my earlier suggestion keeps that aspect and also rewards local fans. Neutral cities will reward the rich with some out of town fans also benefitting.
Why?
how about not wanting the viral breakout in the ballparks?
Even with 80 games, Yankees/Red Sox will still be at least 12 of the ESPN Sunday Night games. /s
Whatever makes you feel better
Sorry there will be no baseball this year is a sure thing, putting 40k fans together in a stadium won’t happen until Dec. 2020 at the earliest and baseball is not played in the snow.
Well, the geniuses in Minnesota did build an open air baseball stadium. Of course, they also elected a professional wrestler to governor, an ignorant comedian to the Senate, and a law-breaking communist Somali to the House of Representatives. Forget December baseball and Covid-19, they should test their water supply for hallucinogens.
State officials Friday announced more than 1,900 new cases of the coronavirus and 27 new deaths in New Jersey, bringing the statewide total to at least 8,825 known cases — including at least 108 deaths — as the state continues its efforts to slow the spread of the fast-moving virus.
Thank goodness we’re worried about the baseball season.
This thing is just getting started.
The CBA expires after the 2020 season. Start the negotiations ASAP
2021 I believe and while discussions should take place, the sides need to wait this out to learn if the landscape radically changes when this is over. Alternatively, maybe extend the current MLBPA an extra year if this goes on longer than expected.
I say go on strike now it won’t matter since there will be no baseball this season. I don’t like the service time allotted even if the season is cancelled. I would also give the players 35% of their salary tops with no season. If MLBPA doesn’t like it then call a strike now and they don’t get paid anything.
What kind of effect is this going to have on the Blue Jays, because technically that is international travel, so how long will it take to get those bans lifted? Weird times.
id assume they could get an exemption.
I imagine this means no more than 20,000 will be allowed to attend games at the Trop or Marlins Park…….
Baby steps lol.
Good one, bobtillman!!
That’s a nice baseball laugh when we need to smile more. Thanks Bob.
Marlins. All time social distancing champions.
A good week for them is 20,000, so yeah, they’re in trouble….
How about one fan each for teams playing?
They can sit on opposite sides of the stadium.
“We are having a Twitter contest today for who is going to get the Ranger ticket for today’s game!” lol
It would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars
You would think they would think to of canceled all twitter contests. Actually it’s kind of fun if someone wins they should get a ticket to the first game
If these dummies would just stay home, wash their hands and be decent human beings, we could put a huge dent in this problem. It’s not going away anytime soon but there is real progress being made in treatments for this virus. A vaccine is still 9-12 months away but treatments of some sort will be available in the next 30-90 days. Until then, can we all please be decent humans? Don’t manhandle fruit in the grocery store, cough into your sleeves, use hand sanitizer or alcohol wipes after touching public door handles, ATM machines, Credit Card payment machines, etc. We can all make a difference if we just use our heads. But these a-holes out there making light of this, licking things in public just for social media likes, having parties, meeting groups of people in public are going to make thing so much worse than they have to be. Just use common sense, respect others and stop being unsanitary and selfish. The more we do now, the quicker life can get back to some sense of normal, including baseball games.
I hate the people licking stuff, it’s so stupid. BTW did you know that people are coughing out loud saying they have the virus in stores and getting arrested! They deserve it.
exactly. if people would listen to a forces quarantine then we could keep everyone non-essential home for however many weeks it takes to pass the virus and then be done with it nationwide. yet “we’re Americans, and hell if anyone will tell us to stay home /s”
Wouldn’t coughing in your hands be better, since you could just wash or use hand sanitizer on your hands? The germs on your sleeve would still be there.
You don’t usually touch things with your sleeve.
suppose to cough in your arm by covering your mouth completely.
This is a smart man. We shall see his baseball expertise but this is a great comment
Some of these people can’t possibly be that short sighted to believe this is going to end tomorrow…lol just to funny what a clown “the truth” change your handle to something more appropriate. Words can’t be said here. As for wondering about the Blue Jays and international travel. The rest of the MLB world needs to wonder if and when they will be allowed into Canada. Where by the way we are taking this very seriously. I unfortunately don’t think there will be much of a season at all. Until the folks in the US of A start paying attention this doesn’t go away anytime soon.
no one thinks this is ending soon, but to assume there will be no time at all to play baseball this year is just silly. much can change for the month – for the worse or better.
No baseball this season is being realistic, you can’t have 20 or 40k fans in a stadium for three hours, this virus can come back even if a person gets over it, it can come back as well. I have loved baseball for 55 yrs but let’s be real about this, 2021 will be the first new season and that will give time for MLB to make their demands know to MLBPA and the Union. The way its formatted now its really bad, strike now this also negates players being paid and by 2021 of March it should all be in place without giving away the farm.
Said the guy from Canada, which only has about 10% of the population of the USA. Thanks for playing.
12000 new cases Identified yet again in US yesterday 10000, Wednesday almost 14K…218 people died in the USA today and over 9000 in Italy. Please continue to treat this as a joke as stated earlier the testing is way behind or there’s not enough yet. That’s the real scary part. Sports should be the last thing on our minds right now. All the sports will be there when this ends, but how many of our seniors will remain.
Well said
The expansion rate is a doubling of cases every 2.5 days. That means the 100,000 US cases today will be 200,000 by Sunday, 400,000 by Tuesday and 800,000 by Thursday/ Friday. That would be cases that are tested. There are thousands more who have it, but have not been tested. This might actually be more than the people who have tested positive.
When a million Americans have it by next weekend, Maybe people will wake up.
Until they do, there is not going to be a season.
I wonder if teams will consider keeping open seats between ticket purchasers? I’m thinking sell these 4 tickets, keep 4 seats open around them. Next game sell the blocked tickets keeping 4 seats open open them.
Concession lines need to be enforced with space between as well as bathrooms.
It’s a stretch, but it might be an option in the early going until this thing has been controlled.
With no vaccine available for at least a year, I’m concerned that cases will remultiply once travel and gathering restrictions are lifted. Does the reboot clock start all over again? Cases across the USA are doubling every other day, we aren’t even close to allowing travel to and from areas like New York, New Jersey, Seattle, Philadelphia, California etc. it’s not even on the horizon.
Pandemic is exploding in the U.S. right now. U.S. was very late in enforcing restrictions. Just last week the Florida beaches were packed with people. Colder states like Washington and NY are getting overrun. Baseball is a pipe dream for this year. Even with no fans in attendance, hundreds of others would still need to be there.
Smart comment.
Tough times for baseball. World War II was tougher, but the games were played every year. Yes, these are different times and of course a contagious virus is an entirely different problem. But I think baseball will try to play as many games as possible. How many-nobody knows. I hope the doctors, scientists and researchers can develop a cure and soon. I love baseball. It’s good for people, and the morale of the country.
This might be kinda silly to talk about but as a cranky old man it has, in recent years, bothered me how ill mannered more and more people have become. And I’m referring to people in general BEFORE this virus became an issue.
What I’m talking about are things like how people eat or chew gum with their mouths open. Cough and sneeze without covering up and the most annoying habit of all are big yawns without covering your mouth. I’m talking about just basic manners we, or at least I, were taught growing up.
I said this might sound silly, but for a second pretend there isn’t a contamination issue and that there is no deadly virus. Pretend we’re talking about manners in general ONLY. People have become ill mannered.
Now I know I myself every now and then forget to use good manners. It happens but I like to think that I 98% of the time “cover up”.
Now fast forward to the times we’re enduring now. Everyone is now aware of using those manners/habits we need to now use. People are now FINALLY covering up.
But something I still see are people who yawn these big huge lionlike yawns and don’t coverup. I’ve seen people wearing gloves that still yawn like something you see on National Geographic…with no covering. When you yawn you breathe in then exhale.
Feel free to make fun of this post. Maybe I’m making a big deal out of nothing. But to me, of all the ways there are to spread this thing, little has been said about yawning. I remember when I was little my parents chewing me out about yawning. Telling me I looked horrible, I was rude, and I spread germs. It’s always ticked me off to see it but the same people sneezing into their elbows, thank God for that are the same people dislocating their jaws yawning.
Sorry for the length
I’m not laughing (except at the National Geographic line, that was funny). Seems to me more and more people are giving themselves permission to be rude, or are using rudeness as a form of personal validation. Not sure which, or both, but either way it’s everywhere now.
What’s weird is the same people that have gloves and cough/sneeze into elbows and tissues are the very same people who yawn big yawns and don’t cover. It’s like they care but at the same time must be thinking yawns are different. It’s just hard to fathom.
Btw, I assume you’re a dodger fan. I’m a giants fan since BOBBY Bonds came along. Man I loved to watch him. Ran like a gazelle.
Anyway, I realize that this virus takes priority if you are a dodger guy you’ve gotta be disappointed. If you were ever gonna finally win the title this probbbly would have been your year. At least I thought so. Still question the pitching but man, you guys r loaded. Giants hopefully will get to that point but your window is now
still swept by the lowly angels. 0 for 4!
This is a nice reasonable comment. And I can’t believe how the Astros robbed them like that
Feels like the window is closing, fast. Also feels like ticket holders aren’t even going to get any of their money back. I wouldn’t be surprised if MLB takes the same position as the airlines and tour companies. Their losses will be underwritten by our money.
u.s. soldiers infected the world with chewing the gum with mouth open in the 40’s.
I’m 68 and even I think you’re a crank. People were exhibiting this behavior even when I was growing up.
Considering how many people one single person can contaminate, considering how unlikely it is that this will completely disappear, considering how many people refuse to take this seriously and on and on… Why would you even WANT to attend an event where tens of thousands of people could be there? I have zero idea how the odds would be calculated, but even come June or July, what are the chances that ZERO people out of tens of thousands gathered would be infected? Many people have shown a lot of disregard for their community; I can’t imagine that caution and caring would rise when 20,000 people in a relatively crowded environment, a sporting event and some beer get added to the equation.
Would love to know why certain people DIDNT get infected around those who did, and how they managed not to while surrounded by the same people in the same circle.
My instincts tell me there will be Baseball this year… in some form. But not any time soon.
As far as the Virus goes we are looking at about two months of social separation IF the rest of the country comes even close to the separation protocols. But if it is patchwork we will see a rolling set of outbreaks in different places. The data on this is clear from china to now in the world. Isolate the Virus (that no one has an immunity to before exposure) and limit both it’s impact and damage
In the event that there isn’t a season this year, service time should not count
Ok but I think the league Should provide compensation for the money they are losing. Lol Kris Bryant wound be getting altered again with your idea
Why should players get a year of service time if there isn’t a season?
Ok so let’s try to think the worst and the season starts in Augest 1st 30 days 30 double headers and 35 man rosters. Same thing in September and October and that’s 90 games. Then all the playoff games will be played in domed stadiums but no team can play at home so Everyone can play in Tampa but Tampa. So November you play the playoffs. It’s a weird idea but it could work
i just don’t see how the season can be played. there’s no way the CDC will lift travel conditions for many months…this all started with a handful of infected people returning from asia in january….you think they’ll let people back on planes in a matter of weeks or months from now? a few hundred infected people going around in July could start it all over again. no way CDC will let 40k people pack themselves in a stadium in the year 2020…and players said they won’t play in empty stadiums…