Will There Be a 2020 Season?

[Texsox]

Since all we have are hypotheticals right now let's think about this. 

One team or a few have it spread through their clubhouse. Forfeit games? Bring in the minor league guys? Postpone for a couple weeks?  

[Ducksnort]

22 minutes ago, Texsox said:

Since all we have are hypotheticals right now let's think about this. 

One team or a few have it spread through their clubhouse. Forfeit games? Bring in the minor league guys? Postpone for a couple weeks?  

Quarantine the sick and bring in the minor-leaguers

[Jack Parkman]

27 minutes ago, Texsox said:

Since all we have are hypotheticals right now let's think about this. 

One team or a few have it spread through their clubhouse. Forfeit games? Bring in the minor league guys? Postpone for a couple weeks?  

This is the real reason why you just can't have sports until this fucker is over or there's a treatment. 

[soxfan49]

46 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

This is the real reason why you just can't have sports until this fucker is over or there's a treatment. 

I agree, Jack. I think there are so many variables and it seems like we took a lot for granted. I don't want to see 6 guys get this and then the Sox have to bring up talentless hacks from Charlotte. I don't want to see the Sox play the Cubs with 15,000 people in attendance. It just won't be the same.

[ptatc]

1 hour ago, Jack Parkman said:

This is the real reason why you just can't have sports until this fucker is over or there's a treatment. 

Leagues are starting up all over the world. It will be interesting to see how the first US one fairs. I thinks it's the women's soccer league.

[Y2Jimmy0]

1 hour ago, Jack Parkman said:

This is the real reason why you just can't have sports until this fucker is over or there's a treatment. 

This isn't feasible though. Hospitals are in good shape. We have to figure out how to live with this thing until there's a cure/treatment. Cook County has the most positive cases in the country and due to increased testing, our infection rate statewide is like 6%. We can't shut everything down because 6 out of every 100 people tested have this thing. 

[greg775]

1 hour ago, Texsox said:

Since all we have are hypotheticals right now let's think about this. 

One team or a few have it spread through their clubhouse. Forfeit games? Bring in the minor league guys? Postpone for a couple weeks?  

They are going to have a rule on protocol. I wonder if there have been any leaks in the media on what the rule will be. I haven't heard one good solution on how to handle that. I mean the way they are treating the reopening of our library is so fricking intense and involving making it as pristine as a hospital ICU unit before opening ... I'd think some industry such as baseball would shut down that team for 2 weeks if somebody is positive. I would think if we have some cases of players during the upcoming spring training they'll just cancel the season. What is their other option? Let's say a player gets it and testing shows one other player has it ... how can they just ignore it and play ball even though there are so few deaths in that age range?

If there is a plan I haven't seen it.

Edited May 30, 2020 by greg775

[sin city sox fan]

Even if they play this year, I see at least 10% of the players saying "i'll wait til 2021" (and many of them will be stars).   As a result, this year would be tainted and meaningless.    Just cancel the 2020 season and start preparing for the potential return of baseball next season.

[Jack Parkman]

38 minutes ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

This isn't feasible though. Hospitals are in good shape. We have to figure out how to live with this thing until there's a cure/treatment. Cook County has the most positive cases in the country and due to increased testing, our infection rate statewide is like 6%. We can't shut everything down because 6 out of every 100 people tested have this thing. 

It isn't about that, it's about how incredibly easily transmissible this thing is. One player or coach gets it, 15+ of the 30 man roster can be out 10 days later and you're having the Charlotte Knights playing MLB games instead of the Chicago White Sox. 

All it takes is one person to start a chain reaction that shuts everything down again. 

We do not have a handle on this like South Korea does. 

Edited May 30, 2020 by Jack Parkman

[Dick Allen]

1 hour ago, sin city sox fan said:

Even if they play this year, I see at least 10% of the players saying "i'll wait til 2021" (and many of them will be stars).   As a result, this year would be tainted and meaningless.    Just cancel the 2020 season and start preparing for the potential return of baseball next season.

While I agree some players, if not many, will opt out, I still hope they play. It is an asterisk year anyway. Get some development, and maybe you get lucky. Plus, it’s a lot better to watch than the current choices on TV. And if the NBA and NHL and even MLS make it back and baseball doesn’t because of money, the industry would have just shot itself again, and this time may be lethal.
 
No matter what, owners are going to take a bath this year. One interesting thing will be next off seasons free agent market. I am pretty sure we will be back to spring training signings.   This pandemic, even if there is a vaccine by next season is going to coast some really good players a lot of money.

Edited May 30, 2020 by Dick Allen

[Balta1701]

3 hours ago, ScooterMcGee said:

Quarantine the sick and bring in the minor-leaguers

They're not going to bring the full AAA squads into spring training, so those players won't necessarily be ready to go will they? Are they running training camps with the full 150 people or are they just doing the big league roster with a few extra people?

[Dick Allen]

10 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

They're not going to bring the full AAA squads into spring training, so those players won't necessarily be ready to go will they? Are they running training camps with the full 150 people or are they just doing the big league roster with a few extra people?

I read in The Athletic, the new spring training will be held at each team’s home ballpark. And that there will be up to a 30 man roster and 20 man taxi squad. It will be interesting to see how teams use the taxi squad. Probably will include keepimg several top prospects they have no intention of playing around for at least some development.

If you are willing to take on some cash, there are going to be a lot of opportunities to improve your team.

Edited May 30, 2020 by Dick Allen

[Y2Jimmy0]

2 hours ago, sin city sox fan said:

Even if they play this year, I see at least 10% of the players saying "i'll wait til 2021" (and many of them will be stars).   As a result, this year would be tainted and meaningless.    Just cancel the 2020 season and start preparing for the potential return of baseball next season.

10%? No chance it's that high. 

[Y2Jimmy0]

2 hours ago, Jack Parkman said:

It isn't about that, it's about how incredibly easily transmissible this thing is. One player or coach gets it, 15+ of the 30 man roster can be out 10 days later and you're having the Charlotte Knights playing MLB games instead of the Chicago White Sox. 

All it takes is one person to start a chain reaction that shuts everything down again. 

We do not have a handle on this like South Korea does. 

I understand that. If one player tests positive, he's out for two weeks and in quarantine. Then they'll test the rest of the team and everyone that player came in contact with. Whoever tests positive will obviously be out. If they have enough testing though, you theoretically don't have to shut everything down. 

[sin city sox fan]

1 hour ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

10%? No chance it's that high. 

I think that's honestly a conservative estimate.   I think it easily could be 50% of the pitchers.   They only have so many years available on their arms.   Why waste one of those years in a year you might end up making 30% of your contract?   

Expect a lot of AAA pitchers to be on big league rosters this year if a season does take place.   You'll have a lot of 14-12 type of games and multiple players finishing the season with a batting average of over .400 if this season is played under proposed terms.   

It will make a mockery of the game and I really don't want to see it.

[caulfield12]

1 hour ago, sin city sox fan said:

I think that's honestly a conservative estimate.   I think it easily could be 50% of the pitchers.   They only have so many years available on their arms.   Why waste one of those years in a year you might end up making 30% of your contract?   

Expect a lot of AAA pitchers to be on big league rosters this year if a season does take place.   You'll have a lot of 14-12 type of games and multiple players finishing the season with a batting average of over .400 if this season is played under proposed terms.   

It will make a mockery of the game and I really don't want to see it.

On the other hand, there will be all those veteran hitters like Josh Donaldson and Encarnacion that really can’t afford to sit 18 months and then get out of the gate slowly in 2021.

We know how all the players that signed in May/June the last 3-4 cycles struggled mightily.

With pitchers or anyone coming off an injury, this is the ideal time to get that extra rest and rehab in...as if the case with a number of young pitchers in our organization.

Then you have the free agents risking a lower deal by sitting out the cycle and going into an even more uncertain economic environment in terms of doling out megacontracts, t.v. deals perhaps having peaked, owners crying poor/collusion.

 

For example, the Cubs’ carriage deals for Marquee, even less likely to come to an agreement with advertising spending down across nearly industry.

[SCCWS]

15 hours ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

I understand that. If one player tests positive, he's out for two weeks and in quarantine. Then they'll test the rest of the team and everyone that player came in contact with. Whoever tests positive will obviously be out. If they have enough testing though, you theoretically don't have to shut everything down. 

I think the amount of testing will make a difference. Say you test weekly and a player tests positive. You not only have to test the rest of the team but also every opponent  in the last X number of games. 

[NWINFan]

If they can play at all, all I am concerned about is containing the virus and letting players get some live action. I don't care about a World Series or anything else. This not like any other season. It can't be compared to any other year. Although I doubt any games can be played without having to shut down once more.

[Balta1701]

2 hours ago, SCCWS said:

I think the amount of testing will make a difference. Say you test weekly and a player tests positive. You not only have to test the rest of the team but also every opponent  in the last X number of games. 

And every opponent for those players, and every opponent for those players. And then you have to test them again, because sometimes they have gotten it but it hasn't built up enough in their system yet to trigger a positive test.

This is why some leagues want to test everyone every single day, but to do that for MLB requires something like a $100 million testing program with testing sites at every ballpark. MLB's  original proposal was to do all the players every 3 days and all the grounds crews less often, shipping their test kits to a facility in Arizona so results might not be back for 24 hours. If you have very low incidence in the country where the odds of a player getting it are low that might even work, but as widespread as it is in this country, it's easy to see how one player could get it and it could spread rapidly through several teams before you realize what has happened, even if you're testing every 3 days. 

[Ducksnort]

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/05/mlb-mlbpa-deal-not-expected-by-june-1.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

Deal not expected to be finalized by tomorrow's "soft deadline," I think that's pretty obvious to everyone. Heyman says in order for baseball to start back up by the first week of July, look for a deal to be reached between June 5-9. Also this:

"In a later Tweet, Heyman states that despite the lack of progress in negotiations, there seems to be a prevailing sense of optimism that ultimately a deal will be reached; both players and owners recognize the steep consequences that a cancelled season could have for the sport. Frankly, there’s too much to lose if the parties can’t find common ground, and such an outcome would certainly cause considerable short- and long-term damage to the sport."

I think it's gonna happen folks.

[Harold's Leg Lift]

I'm still holding firm at I'll believe it when I see it.  There are too many differing agendas.  Some owners don't want to play some players don't want to play and neither side seems to want to budge on a salary structure.  I hope they find a way to get it done but that's a lot of obstacles to clear and the clock is ticking.  

[Ducksnort]

20 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

I'm still holding firm at I'll believe it when I see it.  There are too many differing agendas.  Some owners don't want to play some players don't want to play and neither side seems to want to budge on a salary structure.  I hope they find a way to get it done but that's a lot of obstacles to clear and the clock is ticking.  

The pressure cooker is about at max that's for sure

[DirtySox]

 

[Y2Jimmy0]

There's no way the owners go for 114 games but the players opened the door to deferrals. The owners will agree on expanded playoffs and the opt-out for players. They should meet in the middle by the end of the week. Owners defer a portion of full prorated salaries and players agree to a shorter season. 

51 minutes ago, DirtySox said:

 

 

[hogan873]

7 hours ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

There's no way the owners go for 114 games but the players opened the door to deferrals. The owners will agree on expanded playoffs and the opt-out for players. They should meet in the middle by the end of the week. Owners defer a portion of full prorated salaries and players agree to a shorter season. 

 

Yeah, I believe an agreement will be made this week.  Both offers from each side seem miles apart, but the good news is that they're both making offers.  I believe your analysis is probably spot on.

We certainly could use some good news right about now.