Decisions are looming for MLB and the MLBPA regarding a potential 2020 season. The distribution of revenue, salary amounts for players, and the length of the season have been the most publicly controversial topics, but there is a myriad of other negotiating points that could change the game in 2020.
For starters, the league and players are reportedly agreed on changing the format of extra-inning games for the 2020 season. They would adopt the minor league rules that received a trial starting in 2018, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. In extras, each team would start with a runner on second base (the batter who made the last out in the previous inning). This should press the action and help avoid ties taking games deep into the night. That runner would count as an unearned run for the pitcher, going down in the scorebooks as if the batter reached on an error. Regardless of whether or not they decide to allow for ties, rules will revert to traditional extra-inning rules for the start of the postseason.
Even bigger than revenue sharing or rule changes, however, are the health conditions facing players. Yesterday represented a step back as news broke of players at multiple MLB facilities with confirmed COVID-19 exposure (stories from Angels, Phillies, Blue Jays, Astros, and Giants).
This underscores a concern for players, who are seeking additional protections for players. It’s been agreed upon that high-risk players can elect to skip the 2020 season with full pay and service time, but the players’ union are looking to get those protections extended to players with high-risk family members as well, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Any player can choose to opt-out of the season, but as of right now, unless a player qualifies as high risk, they would forfeit their right to accrue service time or collect a paycheck.
For now, all thirty teams have shut down their training facilities for cleaning, per Bill Shaikin of the LA Times. Given the cases of coronavirus that were revealed yesterday (including 11 NHL players), it’s certainly the prudent call to shut down the facilities to reboot (and disinfect). Clearly, the negotiations between the league and players become moot if they can’t establish a clean and safe environment.
The sport has taken a lot of heat for the contentious nature of the debate between owners and players, but if owners can’t guarantee the safety of players, and if players can’t do their part to stay as safe as possible, a lot of time and money will have been wasted trying to get the game back on track.
That extra innings rule is soooo dumb; so out of context with the rest of the game and still doesn’t guarantee an ending to the game. If we got our panties in such a bunch over long extra innings games just allow for a tie after like 12 innings… this is too weird and unnecessary.
I totally agree that putting a runner on second to start extra innings is so moronic, and doesn’t take into account everything that can happen.
For example, what happens if someone—like Pedro Martinez a while back—throws 9 perfect innings, but his team doesn’t score and he goes out for the 10th; he loses his perfect game because the rules put a runner on second base?
I know the likelihood if it happening is so minute, but it could happen, and baseball should not make a rule that could alter an historic occasion just for stupidity.
The runner starting the extra innings already on 2nd sounds so Little League.
That’s not Major League Baseball
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a tie game after something like 12 innings. most of the games will end naturally by then anyway. There have been tie games before in baseball and they don’t hurt a thing. not stats recorded, not standings, nothing. Why are they being so stupid?
Shut it down.
This is asinine and it sounds like Manfred is now using virus concerns to force through the most idiotic of rule changes. MLBPA will sell out the game for an extra dime and an upgradr on player hotels from economy to plus so no pushback there either.
Curious what the justification even is. How is this virus related or make the game safer?
It’s one thing if the plan is to have double headers going on to maximize the amount of games you can play, but that’s not even an issue because MLB refuses to play more than 60 games.
There’s no justification to need to move things along under such a proposal, there’s ample time, with plenty of off days to fit that kind of schedule in.
And ending it early doesn’t do much in the way of preventing spread. Everyone is already in contact for 3+ hours at that point. You’re worried about another hour?
Come on.
This is the most asinine rule change I’ve ever seen. Just don’t play. It’s clear that’s the real goal going on.
I so agree. It cheapens the game. Better to have no season
Agree, the best regular season games are extra innings games.
The general thinking was the spread would slow in the warm summer, and perhaps likely to pick up again in the Fall.
But the increases in Cal, Fla, Tex, and Az recently shows there is still much to learn. and the “first wave” is lasting much longer than anyone thought.
Also, as reported here on MLBTR, foreign players would be able to come back w/ no testing — that surely needs to change if there is any hope the 2020 season could be pulled off w/o further Covid incidents, along with other testing procedures.
IMO the owners will cancel the season, and most players will be fine with that decision.
Hard to have a 2nd wave when you don’t do anything about the 1st wave and wonder why it’s still going on
Come on. That’s not fair. 45 million people lost their jobs due to the massive lock downs. So to say we didn’t do anything about the first wave is a pretty moronic statement.
Cursed….so many people are so stuck on “their side” of this that there is no middle ground or reality for them. It’s sad
Evidently you weren’t paying attention in March and April The sole rationale for the lockdown, flatten the curve scenario was to protect the hospitals from being overwhelmed which didn’t happen. The current increases in cases in vacation venues is not surprising especially due to increased spending. But hospitalizations in Florida are at the same rate they have been for 2 months and deaths are trending down linearly all over the country.
I work for one of the most famous hospitals in the country. emergency care never got over 34% capacity.
The idea of it slowing during the summer was because the virus dies easily on surfaces at high heat and humidity. Early on they thought contaminated surfaces was an easy way to spread it, now they are finding that it is very rare for it to be spread that way. Most of the spreading is happening by air droplets, not picking it up off of a surface. If they are right about that (and they haven’t been right about much) it will mean the heat won’t help stop the spread much
Actually, the idea is that more people are outside when it’s warmer and not confined to indoor, closed spaces that make contracting the virus much easier. But with everything open in some hot states, mostly air conditioned, its bringing people inside to gather. Not to mention a bunch of yahoos refusing to wear a mask due to inconvenience to themselves or claiming freedom not to…so this is what you get. Look around– most other 1st world countries are doing much better than the US, by capita. The difference is attitude.
viruses can’t die, they’re not alive
COVID is so scary because it stays on surfaces so well. Hot or cold.
The players will only be as safe as the most irresponsible member of their team is.
Love your afro.
Oscar — ..Twenty something year old stud athletes making millions …….good luck with that
They think it don’t be like it is, but it do.
i’ve said something similar. quality is only as good as your worst tool.
I’m now for the first time genuinely concerned there may not be a season. Because of the virus. Just as both stubborn as heck sides were finally getting their acts together.
If the spring training sites are closed for even a short time, it seems that the earliest spring training 2.0 could realistically start would be mid July. Time to cancel the season.
Says a fan whos either a Yankees Red Sox Astros Dodgers or Phillies fan. You don’t need the season because your team likes to spend whatever it takes to win.
Why does that matter? Dodgers, for example, are ripped for another World Series appearance. I think a lot of fans want to see a baseball season but are sick of getting their hopes up, only to get let down.
Dodger fans would like to see Betts in uniform. This season might be the only chance.
IF the owners and players finally reach a deal, these should at least be implemented:
1. Testing each player (and any personnells that will be working with the players like coaches, etc) individually and self-isolate for 2 weeks.
2. No outside contact (in-person) during the season and the playoffs – it will be hard but people do it all the time when they move for the jobs.
3. Limited traveling for the games. All the games will have to be divided into certain regions, like East, West, North, and South. Those teams only play in that region and only meet later for the playoffs.
4. Check for the symptoms of COVID-19 before games and record them, like temperature.
We are going to play .. none of these health concerns were unexpected
These new health concerns meant to say
I guess we go on lockdown for 5 years to prevent the spread. Herd immunity is 5 years away at least and a vaccine isn’t going to eradicate COVID-19. Our flu vaccine helps but doesnt prevent flu. I was vaccinated in Nov and still got Influenza A in February and Im very healthy. It’s ridiculous to think a COVID-19 vaccine is the answer. We can’t hide in the basement for 5 years as the virus is something we have to learn to deal with. We can live without sports but waiting to play next year isnt going to change things. I hope we have baseball this season.
If the league and players are letting information about agreements on rule changes leak today they have to be close to an overall agreement considering it’s basically zero hour for negotiating, anyway, right? Otherwise, what’s the point? It would be dumb to be like, yeah, well, we did all agree on pretty silly rule changes as of Saturday and let that leak to the media, but never got the amount of games or money settled so come a day or two later we’ll just have the commissioner mandate a season with none of what we actually did agree upon.
They’ve been leaking the negotiations for months now; I think it’s safe to say neither side are PR geniuses in that respect.
Agreed. I guess my wishful thinking is that something like this could be foreshadowing an agreement just because I want baseball back more than I think either side makes rational PR choices…
If the players have to vote on it, all you have to do is control 1,200 people and their families to stop leaks.
I’m a Chicago fan. The Bulls are out, so I don’t care about the NBA season. The Hawks are in, so I hope the season resumes. There’s a good chance the Bears will play, and I’ll miss them if they don’t. Frankly I don’t watch other NBA, NHL, or NFL teams very often at all. But baseball is different for me. I miss it. I miss the Sox more than anything, but I also miss the banter with my Cubs friends. I miss the game, the angst when the team slumps or a key player is injured, the joy that comes with a winning streak or a late-game rally to win. I miss other games between other teams, always alert to how their wins and loses affect the standings. Of course like everyone else I’ve found plenty of other interesting things to do during the pandemic, but baseball—I miss it.
Amen, brother. Other sports are somewhat interesting, baseball is life.
Tie after 12 innings would be better than “runner on second” which is like flipping a coin.
What’s wrong with a tie for such a f-ed season!
Welp, congrats boys. Y’all are really trying to ruin the game now. No ties, no bulls**t unearned runner on second base. Quit changing the rules to appease people who aren’t really fans of the game. Getting sick of this crap.
Sounds like the MLB is asking for A LOT from the MLBPA.
I am a Rays fan and I am in a two awesome fantasy baseball leagues (AL and NL for the past 30 years). I want baseball as bad as anybody, but, for the first real time, I think this might be the death knoll for a 2020 season. I have always thought we needed to let the virus play out for some herd immunity, because it, most likely, isn’t going anywhere anytime soon(even if the “miracle” vaccine comes about, which I hold out little hope for due to the large amount of potential factors involved with it). I imagine by the start of next season they should have their ducks more in a row on how to deal with this(?), but with the CBA coming up in ‘21, with how contentious their dealings have been with each other this season, that adds just another potentially large issue that could derail even a Covid free baseball season. Maybe, after all the loss of income on both sides they will work better together, but after seeing them try to deal with each other this year and in the past, I just don’t hold out much hope, that due to this lost season, that they won’t be even more entrenched to fight over every nickel. This just sucks!
Breaking news,,,,,there will be NO SPORTS the rest of the year. All this negotiating, planning etc will be for not. This pandemic is real and the very first step should be, and should have been to get that moronic president stifled.
Within days/weeks, one by one, each major league will close it up. Maybe, just maybe golf survives. It’s disastrous, but it’s what is going to happen
I was telling my wife this morning that we just don’t have enough political haranguing in this country. Thank you for filling the void. You’re truly doing gods work.
Took almost 40 years and a global pandemic to understand there’s more to life than sports.
If some miracle happens and they actually play, baseball or any other sport, I’ll watch but it’s not going to be a daily priority anymore. And definitely not spending money on anything.
Neither Abner Doubleday, Alexander Cartwright (or for that matter, Little Joe Cartwright) insisted on extra innings. They’re a complete anachronisms; of no current use to anybody.
Play to 10 innings if you want, then declare a tie. Get Bill Gates to compute the worth of a tie in the standings. Let the kids get to bed on time, and the RSNs to run their infomercials on time. If by doing so you’re messing with historical stats, who cares; most of those stats are silly anyway.
Ties would work, better yet forget stats for this season, will be meaningless. I live in city that has team in northern independent league, they are starting July 1 limited attendance. Makes more sense than fanless games
Ties would work, better yet forget stats for this season, will be meaningless. I live in city that has team in northern independent league, they are starting July 1 limited attendance. Makes more sense than fanless games
Yuk. No ties. No runner on 2nd either. Its not broke. Don’t fix it.
This horse was dead weeks ago. Let’s show some mercy and let it rest in peace.
So now teams will start tanking an extra inning frame. Fast and/or good base runner with no pop comes up with 2 outs in the 10th, strikeout and gamble on getting through the next half inning and starting with a burner on 2nd.
Use a designated runner with reentry allowance
What I get from this article is we already had pace of play changes forthcoming, prior to more for COVID. My 73 year old dad just asked how we could fix other baseball popularity issues, especially the pace of play. I told him we had some coming this season prior to the virus and, now, we have another potential baseball shiner to deal with. We have greed and ego keeping an agreement from happening, when in all likelihood what baseball would be doing would be to play or agree to play then cancel due to very real virus outbreaks and concerns.
The problem is it’s looking like any initiative to build the sport up is being met with resistance from all sides – owners, players, and now fans losing hope in their favorite sport that is already waning in popularity.
Turn out the lights the party’s over…..with all the new horrendous changes that were coming this season, who was really excited about it anyway?
I was excited. I saw a chance to have the national sports stage all for baseball, along with some big changes for COVID. I saw this as a chance to recapture some old fans and make some new ones. Now, I’m getting discouraged that baseball lost another chance due to its own ignorance and a virus keeping a pace of play clock no one saw coming.
funny all the players were concerned with the virus, then when the money got flashed they wanted more games.
now, they will want more money because of the danger….
I watched several indy ball games last year when they were implementing the extra innings rule as well as the automated ball strike zone. Extra innings rule was terrible. They need to stop trying to change the game because it just makes it worse.
If the extra innings BS is actually enacted, I’m done with MLB. If these charlatans running the league and the union (and make no mistake, the union is every bit into whoring baseball out as the league) want to reimagine what baseball is, great, good luck. I’ll find other uses for the considerable amount of money I spend on a lifelong love and passion for baseball… if MLB collectively decides they don’t value what baseball is and was, I’ll clear out of the way so all the new passionate revenue generators they think they can attract have some extra leg room.
So while the traditionalists moan about the runner on 2nd rule watch somebody like Tampa or Oakland strategize and roster some speed demon from their minor league system as the designated runner, play for 9 inning ties and make the playoffs by stealing a few 10th inning games.
Hey commish, didn’t you say the facility’s and clubhouses were safe?
I think the MLBPA said it
How about making it fun….
Similar to a NHL shootout, settle a tie with a HR derby style setup.
Exciting and fun. I’d definitely watch that!
Just have ties.
The runner on second thing is so Little League.
I have lost interest. I’d rather not see them play with those rules, anyway.
play until someone wins, best option
tie, works in the nhl
no to runner on second
no hr derby
or like old high school football
win on penetrations
Please, no HR derby to break ties. That is the last thing the game needs. In the 11th inning, I would prefer the first two batters being placed on second and first. It would bring back small ball and the strategy so many fans enjoy. Now, the emphasis would be on advancing runners. Does the offensive manager bunt or start the runners? Meanwhile, the defensive manager has decisions to make. Do you shift? Or do you play straight up in double-play depth? And if the road team takes the lead and goes to its closer in the bottom of the inning, at least it won’t be a typical clean inning like these pitchers are used to. Drama all over the field.
if they put a runner on second base, it should be the scheduled batter for that inning. unless you pinch run
Look at the premier league for ideas