Major League Baseball and its players are still at odds over finances and schedule length, thus prolonging the start of the 2020 season, which baseball fans are craving. According to the Associated Press, the players’ association proposed an 89-game regular season schedule, with full prorated salaries and an expanded postseason to as many as 16 teams. In its latest proposal, the union would like the regular season to start July 10 and end Oct. 11. The owners have been against extending the postseason deeper into the fall because of the possibility of a second wave of the coronavirus. AP reports that, while 89 is closer to MLB’s proposals of 82 and 76 games, MLB didn’t appear to consider it productive. Although baseball has made no official comment on this latest move by the players, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know they have not changed their stance on a further pay cut with that length of a schedule. In March, the two sides agreed the players would receive prorated salaries, but since then MLB wants to negotiate further because empty ballparks will hurt its revenue.
If the two sides can’t agree, the league could force a shorter schedule, around 50 games.
“It’s an ugly situation, but the clock is ticking here,” NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury told SportsRadio 94WIP’s morning show Tuesday, before the players' latest proposal was leaked. “(MLB Commissioner) Rob Manfred might have to just put his foot down and just say, ‘OK guys, 48 games, we’ll see you at the ballpark.’”
“There’s gonna be baseball this summer,” Salisbury said. “There will be. There’s a chance it won’t be the type of baseball we expect, and I’m worried about the bad taste that it’s leaving in everyone’s mouth.”
Even if there is baseball, a schedule of around 50 games isn’t ideal for the sport. Baseball is usually around 162 games. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Fifty games is about two months' worth of games.
“Baseball, it tests your performance over the long haul,” Salisbury said. “It tests your health over the long haul. And I’m not talking individually, I’m talking team wise. So, it tests performance. It tests health. It tests organizational depth. I mean there are no flashes in the pan during a baseball season.
“It’s the ultimate truth teller, because it’s 162 games. It’s a test of endurance. Forty-eight games is not baseball. They play 32 games in spring training.”
Meantime, as the billionaires continue to argue with the millionaires, baseball will hold its 2020 amateur draft tonight. There are only five rounds this year instead of 40. The first round is tonight at 7 p.m. Rounds two through five are Thursday at 5 p.m. The Phillies are picking 15th overall tonight and might have the chance to select a local kid.
CB East right-handed pitcher Nick Bitsko, 17, could wind up in the first round and be available for the Phils.
His high school coach, Kyle Dennis, told SportsRadio 94WIP’s Joe Giglio last week, “If you forget all the physical gifts and tools he has, he’s just an incredible baseball player instinctually. He gets how to play the game, and it’s just been absolutely fun to watch him grow and develop. When he was in ninth grade throwing 90 miles an hour, that’s something pretty special, and it was just a blessing to watch him grow and develop over the past couple of years.”
The Phillies don’t have a second-round pick this year. They lost that when signing Zack Wheeler. Their other selections are 87th (third round), 116th (fourth round) and 146 (fifth round). Because they don’t have a second-round pick, it’s very important they get the first-round selection right. And, of course, we won’t know if that’s the case for another three to five years or so down the line.