For New York Yankees fans and fans of MLB from all over the country, the news is not all bleak. The negotiations between MLB and the MLBPA (players union) over monetary issues are as far apart as ever, as the season slips away. That being said, there have been some significant agreements that have been reached, giving some hope of a baseball season this year.
First, the MLB has dealt with health concerns over the coronavirus. Several weeks ago now MLB issued a health initiative that is 67 pages long that covers everything from who can be in the dugout, where players will shower, who will wear masks, and who will be allowed in the clubhouse. These are just a few of the main parts of the health protocol. It even covers specifics that outlaw, close contact, and spitting. The protocol also calls for daily health testing of all personnel. For a summary of the MLB report, you can go here.
Another area that all are in agreement is for baseball to be played regionally. That means that the New York Yankees will play all their traditional rivals from the American League East Division, the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and the Tampa Bay Rays. But they will also play the National League teams in the east division as well. The Yankees will face the cross-town rival New York Mets, Philidelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals, Atlanta Braves, and the Florida Marlins. This same set up would be followed in a 10 team Central Division and in the West Division as well.
So what does this mean for the Yankees, well, it’s a mixed bag. For New York fans, its a bonanza of exciting games that pit the two New York teams that might only play each other twice, now it will be double that according to how many games are decided upon for the entire season. Originally the AL teams would play twice as many series with their AL rivals than with the NL teams.
While the Yankees will lose games against the lowly Tigers, they will face the equally poor teams of the Baltimore Orioles and the bottom of the heap Florida Marlins. Those are the pluses, but the new plan will also present challenges like the Yankees facing and up and coming Atlanta Braves lineup and the even more challenging situation of having to face Stephen Strasburg and Max Scherzer of the World Champion Washington Nationals.
The significant benefit for all teams in the three ten-team divisions is a health benefit. Teams will no longer be subject to flying all over the country to play games with little downtime. Traveling within a smaller region will mean less time in crowded plans and busses. This will create less stress on the player’s immune systems in a coronavirus environment.
The sides in the negotiations also seem to be in complete agreement on an expanded postseason, once the final number of regular-season games is decided upon. The difference this year is that instead of a postseason of ten teams, this year will see fourteen teams seeing the postseason play. A thorn for all teams was the possibility of having to play a one-game Wild-card elimination game. That will not be the case under the present plan as the Wild Card will now be a series of three games.
With all these areas seemingly in agreement that leaves just two major areas of disagreement, how many games will be played in a regular-season and how much players will be paid for those games. This is presently a contentious area of negotiation that seems to be going nowhere. The sides, if anything are further apart then when the MLB negioations started. The players want a longer season while the owners want fewer games.
The players realizing they will lose 50% of their salaries due to reduced games still want pay for an 82 game season. An 82 game season is something the owners don’t want. The players union suggested a 114 game season, and the owner came back with a season as short as 40 games that will greatly reduce player’s pay. That’s where it stands with neither side wanting to budge.
With time marches on, a July 1 start for an MLB season now seems all but impossible, and with each passing day, the ability to have any season is slipping away while the sides don’t seem to be able to compromise. It has to be kept in mind that a three and preferably four-week spring training 2.0 must be completed to allow players to build up and avoid undue injuries. Half of those in the know say the season is now shot, while others say there will be a baseball season. This writer believes with each passing day; a season becomes more unlikely.
The sides must come together and fast, as no baseball for a year and a half will cause considerable damage to the game, which will take years to recover from. New York Yankee fans and MLB fans all over are willing to accept whatever the sides come up with; they just want to watch real baseball games.