Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred told teams Monday to expect spring training to begin on time in February and for a 162-game regular season to occur, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.
While plans could change based on the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s nonetheless a major development right now that the league has informed its clubs that it intends to return to a full schedule this year. MLB could only play 60 regular-season games per team in 2020, and there has since been talk about another shortened campaign in 2021.
Less than a month ago, the league seemed as if it was preparing for a delayed spring training and a second consecutive shortened season, though that idea did not go over well with the MLBPA. The union, led by senior director of collective bargaining and legal Bruce Meyer, quickly fired back, saying that “players are planning on showing up for spring training on time for a full 162-game season as set forth in the collective bargaining agreement and the league’s previously issued schedule.”
While the players accepted a truncated season with prorated pay last year, they don’t seem willing to go that route yet again. Plus, as Nightengale notes, the league does not have the right to unilaterally push back the start of the upcoming season. That could help set the stage to a return to a full campaign, though it’s unknown whether fans will be allowed back in the stands this year.
Of course, if MLB does revert to 162 games with full salaries for players, it could lessen tensions between the league and the union as they try to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement before the current one expires in December. The two sides have been at loggerheads over multiple issues in the past couple of years, and if MLB would have fought for another season of fewer than 162 games, it likely would have made their relationship worse. Still, the league and its players do have other matters to hash out soon, Nightengale writes, with health and safety protocols, the universal DH and expanded playoffs among them.
Sweet!!!!!
Great to hear! Would also love to hear fans allowed to all games, even if it’s in some sort of limited capacity to start
Fan attendance will be up to local laws, can’t expect it to be the same for every team.
The Dbacks are allowing 25,000 per game which is around their average. The Dodgers need to make a deal as California will be empty until 2022 or later.
This isn’t that big of an announcement. Teams ought to plan for 162 because if they get 144 they will be overprepared and that is always better than underprepared.
they should have just made it a 144 game schedule. with likely issues with COVID like last season, you build in a few more off days to account for schedule flexibility
I guess MLB is fine with another season full of double headers. If I were one of their TV partners having to pay the full price of broadcasting two games for a doubleheader far fewer people are likely to watch all of, I’d be annoyed.
They will just play 7 inning double headers like last year if they have to make up game due to Covid.
Steve, I agree. For me, the big takeaway is that with potentially a full season of reduced to zero ticket revenue, owners have all the more reason to cry poor.
As way to compensate for those expected losses, offers of FA contracts (which in previous years might be competitive) are avoided.
The owners may be forthright in stating that after a dearth of FA deals; we don’t really know if that is true(outside of ATL’s publicly traded ownership group).
If no patrons enter the park, concession stands will not operate. If they do not operate, they don’t pay their agreed sum per game. If they don’t pay, owners do not get paid. Teams can’t sell as many ads inside the actual stadium either. More revenue loss. Businesses can’t operate. And then many in-game workers are out of a job. It is more than just ticket sales here.
Having a typical season would be nice. I couldn’t take a 60 game season with 7 inning games seriously.
Like last year.
we’ve won Mr. Stark
I’m a bit weary to give this guy much praise. His leadership role has been, problematic.
His iron will made him inevitable.
Seems like a strange idea given what the current virus issues are and the new mutations coming about…
We just have to wait and see, I’d be surprised if it did happen this way
Lol. Mutations that have nothing to do with the vaccine working or not. By April, there will be huge numbers vaccinated and we should be heading back to normal
We can hope. At the current pace of vaccination it will take 4+ years to get all the people over 16 in the US vaccinated. As of today there are only enough doses available to the US for 50 million people to receive vaccination by the end of March. There will be no more Pfizer doses before June because the federal government turned down the opportunity to buy more and I don’t know when more Moderna doses will be available other than after the end of March. We can hope that Astra Zeneca completes their stage 3 testing and gets a EUA from the FDA because they have said they can provide 30 million doses (15 million people vaccinated) within a month. Praying is pretty much all we can do.
You can have my vaccine
So, let me see if I understand. A.Z. needs an EUA from the FDA so the MLBPA can play MLB and get their full pay. Ay?
Ok. I will take it.
ohyeadam: “you can have my vaccine”
Great, so you’ll contribute to prolonging the effort to drive the virus to the verge of extinction.
the vaccine isn’t going to drive corona virus to the face of extinction…….
hasn’t driven the common cold or the flu to extinction, its closest relatives in the rna family.
you can still get hepatitis even with a vaccine. only reason thats not a problem is because it’s found in feces mostly. sanitary conditions typically kill it right off the bath. (rna family)
west nile virus is spread by mosquitos. can still get it even with a vaccine. again the spreader is mosquitos. so chances of contracting it are reduced if you aren’t around them. (rna family)
ebola is still deadly as ever. (rna family)
sars only infected like 8,000 people with no world wide prevention plan or measures taken back in 2002 2003 (rna family)
if a pet with rabies bites you you still need a shot. every time it happens. not really eradicating it. most vaccines for pets are yearly, some 3 years. you get it from infected animals so transmission rate is low. (rna family).
MERS is spread by camels and transmission rate is pretty low outside. (rna family).
the vaccine isn’t going to eradicate it.
only viruses we’ve contained in the rna family is measles and polio
nature and hygiene seem to handle hepatitis and west nile
mers and sars weren’t infectious, less than 15,000 cases combined.
a vaccine isn’t going to stop it from spreading.
Man you have to turn off the news my man. You sound like you are glued to the TV 24/7 buying into this Bull S**t that the News is spewing out on a daily basis.
moreso you just sound like you don’t believe anything that would make you think or care about others safety.
You need to review the literature and public statements, even by board members of the drug companies who developed and are selling the virus.
They have cautioned/admitted the new mutations coming from South Africa and Brazil lower the effectiveness of the immune response after the vaccine.
THIS vaccine series these companies made rely on your body recognizing the spike that allows the virus to attach to cells, then attacking said virus.
Downside: spike changes, body doesn’t recognize it as well or attack as effectively.
Mutations: changed the spike, and thus, in addition to increased transmission the immune system doesn’t attack as well. This has been confirmed by vaccine company board directors.
Agreed
Love it . I hope fans can attend also
hopefully but it depends on state like my Nats have a strict policy in DC
And basically every democratic state
so responsible ones?
Now about that DH… we’ll let you know in April.
@bobsugar84 You beat me to it.
I believe that Manfred told the teams to plan for no DH in the NL this season. It’s a bargaining chip for the owners and they won’t use it unless the MLBPA gives them something, such as an extended playoffs like last year.
The only way the owners get the $500+ million from expanded playoffs is if they give the players a while lot more than just 15 DH spots in the NL.
The owners have been making billions the past 10-15 years so now they are poor after 2019. They are only crying poor because the CBA is coming up at the end of 2021 and every baseball fan knows it and the players know it as well.
Him saying it is better than nothing
“You say it best…. when you say nothing at all.”
Good ole Alison Kraus.
I’d like that, but I’ve developed the habit of not believing anything Manfred says, so I guess we’ll see.
He can follow that up with his resignation. Dude is a stain on this game.
Rob Manfred uses scissors to cut aluminum foil.
to make his panties. tight pink panties!
That doesn’t make him a bad person
never said so. incompetent, sure!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I’m ready to see Lindor and Carrasco get started! #LFGM
Not Nimmo 🙁 Nats vs Mets Opening Day may the best win Scherzer vs Degrom. Go Nats
Free agents here we come!!!!!!
162 games but start May 1. It’s still warm in late November in a lot of places btw.
Tell us about the DH for 2021! Is it the MLBPA holding the league back?
no. both sides are planning to use it as anegotiating chips. manfred can just install it for 2021 if he uses his non-existing leadership.
Its not the MLBPA holding back the DH. Clark has been calling for it to be added for years. The DH in the NL means 15 more high paying jobs for the union.
The NL owners are not a fan of the DH because it would add $5 million to the payroll of each team on average.
Right after the WS the owners offered to add the DH if the players would allow expanded playoffs like there was in 2020, but with no additional pay for the players even though the owners would get an additional $500 million just for the TV rights to expanded playoffs plus all the other local revenue. Players are typically not paid for the playoffs except a bonus for the teams that make it to the CS and WS. The players said no to that.
I am sure a compromise can be made, but probably not until the 2022 season.
On a side note, both the MLBPA and the Umpires union have approved the use of automated ball and strike calling. When do you think that is implemented? 2021 or 2022?
The NL owners are fine with the DH. They simply don’t want to give the DH to the MLBPA without some giveback. The MLBPA has no desire to make a concession for the DH knowing the NL wants it.
No reason not to have 162. It’s obvious, looking at least year’s season and looking at the relative success the other sports have had, that this can be done with relative safety. I didn’t think that was going to be the case, but I was dead wrong.
That doesn’t mean there won’t be outbreaks. There will be. But with Spring Training happening in relatively close quarters, and with the likely hood that a quarter to a third of the country should be vaccinated by the end of April, there’s no reason they can’t push forward.
All that being said, there shouldn’t be fans in the stands until at least late summer, and maybe not even then. That’s the one thing that worries me. That the owners in their holy grail like quest for the almighty dollar will rush to reopen the gates and these games will turn out super spreader events. No matter how much money the owners are losing, they don’t need that kind of publicity. I hope they play it smart.
The problem with 162 games is that it leaves no room for error and will lead to lots of double headers.
Will they still have 7 inning rules? Runners on 2nd in extra innings? DH?
Without all of these, I don’t think a 162 game season is realistically feasible.
Im just curious but what happens if the owners / teams tell city officials to piss off and open up the ballpark to fans? What can the city actually do about it?
Government can do whatever they want. They can shut it down.
City officials have been a line in the sand to stuff like that recently. The governors will typically overrule something a city official says if they don’t agree with it. City officials have their time and place, but governors have been the rule to follow recently.
Gov’t has gotten way too much power lately and that usually means less freedom for everyone. I just want baseball with no more cardboard fans.
I thought that during last season, that a team should do some kind of drawing to allow 1 person into the stands as a promotional thing. They’d sit in a nice seat with free amenities just because they won the drawing. No family members, just yourself. F them kids. But they’d have a Covid check in, they’d be away from the players and staff, and it would be promotional. Plus, imagine the heckling. Sweet justice. Your thoughts?
I like it.
“Gov’t has gotten way too much power lately and that usually means less freedom for everyone. ”
Yes, it does, and our gov’t is getting scarily powerful/controlling. Did you and yours attempt to rectify that this November, or fall in line and help (re)/elect those who are actively taking away our freedoms?
That’s scratching me right where I itch!
Presumably ballparks need health permits to operate, just like restaurants. Pull the health permit. Then fine the team for each game operating without one.
But no team is going to defy their local laws, not for fear of fines, but for fear of permanently losing fans. A lot of us would refuse to ever again watch or spend money on a team that willfully put our community health at unnecessary risk by breaking the law to make more money. A team could lose perhaps half of their future revenue for the next decade.
Good luck not having a liquor license. You can’t fight city hall as they say.
I think the way to parse this is to focus on the word ‘plan’. There’s a possibility, not necessarily a probability, that they’ll play 162 games. So teams should plan for it.
162 games with limited fans. Glad I am not mlb free agent.
And we’re glad you’re not real GM
Good job numbskull
There are 385,122 less fans available. But who’s counting?
385,259.
Who says those 385,259 are all baseball fans?
Well, MLB’s fan base does skew old. Bet they’re losing more than other sports.
As someone who currently has Covid, it really feels just like a bad cold. Lots of coughing and nose blowing, some aches and pains, but nothing you haven’t experienced a bunch of times in your life.
@ted, I appreciate your willingness to share your experience and I hope you keep having an “low symptom” experience and that you get well soon. For the sake of clarity, may I ask your age? Do you know how you got it? Again, heal fast!
I’m 38. I assume I got it at work or the grocery store. I live in California, so masks are required to go inside all establishments, and restaurants and bars are closed. Honestly, I’m surprised it took this long to get it, as my job requires lots of human interaction. Today is day 3, and I’m feeling much better. Fever totally gone, just congestion at this point.
Get well Ted. It can be deadly for some people, even in rare occasions for young and healthy. Glad you are doing well. I hate to even get a cold. I have a weak immune system. I have little faith in masks but I don’t touch anything without gloves and my mail sits for a day or two. If I see someone coughing I will avoid that section of the store. I doubt I would die from it but have no desire to be sick. If people want to go to games though that is fine with me. I can work from home. Order everything online. So doesn’t bother me. I won’t be going to any games. I don’t want to wear a mask for 4 hours and if you don’t have to wear them people will be coughing all over the place. Even with them a lot of people wear them half … I predict limited fans. Maybe full fans in a few states.
My mother lives in a retirement community and the workers left work had Christmas parties, caught Covid and brought it back in the retirement community.
Four Covid related deaths so far.
If you are under 60, it’s the flu, if you are older and at risk, it could easily hasten your death.
I don’t know the solution, but it does require responsible people to solve. Responsible people are not as common as they use to be.
Tell that to the 385,259 that have died so far. That is 10 years of deaths from the flu. This is not the flu.
I for one am grateful that there is only one thing killing off baseball fans. And that it only targets baseball fans
I am going to stop going to baseball games so I will be immune from the virus.
Whyhayzee, Good joke
“There are 385,122 less fans available. But who’s counting?”
You do realize that hundreds of thousands of people die every year, right? Covid’s impact on the overall yearly death total is far less than you think.
Actually is far higher than you think. At this point, over 400k more deaths than just the ones from COVID compared to a typical year.
You cannot get critical care in most hospitals. If you have a heart attack or a stroke or other acute medical needs that require an ICU you are SOL in many areas of the country. Unfortunately this is something I know from personal experience. I have already lost a relative in December because she could not get care in Phoenix because there were no ICU beds available.
In normal circumstances, 7,800 people die per day. COVID is currently running 3,000-4,000 deaths per day on average. That means that 30%-40% of ALL DEATHS PER DAY are due to COVID. It’s not a hoax. It’s not a little thing. Yes people die of many things but no one is dying of anything nearly so much as they are of COVID these days. COVID is running about 1.5-2X the death rate of heart disease, the prior leading cause of death. And it is at least partially an avoidable thing, with safety precautions. If you have the slightest amount of decency and sense of social responsibility, take precautions. Large numbers of people are dying.
You are right but you are wasting your time. Facts cannot persuade people who do not value the lives of others.
@mo…you are pulling those stats out of your ass.
There’s more intelligence “up there” than in your head, apparently. Reliable statistics on COVID are not some great mystery. Only to those under rocks.
It’s almost the middle of January. Figure out the DH issue so we can see business pick up. This should have been resolved a month ago.
Take precautions, enter at your own risk, play some ball.
It is easier to plan for a full season and back off if needed than to back off and then try to accelerate things. That said, still don’t trust Manfred. He’ll find some reason not to play a full season.
Are the Jays interested?
The league/players union need to make a decision one way or another on the universal DH for next season. It’s already kind of ridiculous that they haven’t made the decision yet. Like it has pretty significant ramifications on national leagues roster construction and several free agent hitters are kind of stuck in limbo at the moment as they await the decision. I don’t really get why it’s taking so long to decide one way or the other. But it just seems like its something that really needs to get decided soon so that both teams and those players in limbo can actually move forward in a reasonable fashion.
$$$$$$$
Its all about the benjamins. Large STACKS of benjamins.
It would be nice if NL teams could plan on how to fill their rosters by knowing if there would be a DH or not…
Manfred and the owners will allow the universal DH in exchange for the first borns of every player born after 1976.
We can’t have bottom feeders make the WC now. Thank God!
There’s goes your the Mets chances
Someone’s worried!
So its MLBPA +1, owners 0.
I really don’t care, as long as we stay safe. It would be nice if they threw EVERYTHING into a vat and come up with a new CBA while they’re at it.
Ya, right.
Soooooo they are purposely holding out on news about DH to screw the players change my mind. Back to 25 man rosters?
Thank God. Last “season” was a joke. Real baseball is back. 162 season, you can truly tell where an organization stands. A month or two months of baseball is an absolute joke.
Yeeeeaaahhh!!!!
This sounds like wishful thinking on the commissioner and players part. There’s still a lot of things to be worked out, especially the designated hitter in the National League. The truly big issue is Covid as we all know. I would love to see a full season of baseball. However I will reflect on reality and wish for the best.
Bingo
“Plan on playing the amount of games we are contractually obligated to play”. Thanks Robbie.
Whoo-Hoo!
Great for us baseball fans, but an even better sign for our country. Clear skies on the horizon.
Hopefully, now that owners have some idea of what’s going to happen we’ll start seeing the free agent market pick up.
Liam Hendriks will sign tomorrow. I see the future.
There has to be a subreddit for stuff like this.
Good. Stop the nonsense.
This is good news if done safely. As for the DH, I don’t see it for this year. Both sides want it AS a bargaining chip for the CBA. I just don’t it happening and before you say but the fans want it. Since when have the owners or the players cared
Plans change NBA canceling games left and right. ST will be disaster next month. Manfred gets to say we tried now here is 60 game season
What happened to the “162 game season seems impossible” crowd?
I wasn’t one of them but I will say this: has the 162-game season started yet? Until it does I suggest we wait and see.
A lot could still change based on hospital bed availability. Even if baseball has nothing to do with infections, high case counts and limited hospital beds could shut many things down (or at least limit them) like crowd numbers, especially indoors, travel across state lines, lodging, Hell, maybe even rioting, protests and civil unrest.
I think the league and teams need to be ready for losing weeks at a time again and the fustercluck of scheduling makeups.
Next, baseball needs to have the minors up and running just to ensure that reserve players are ready. That’s another big issue for those franchises in regard to local state limitations.
Padres record 110 and 52
Haha don’t be modest, tell us what you really think
I think they will win more than those 52 games. You’re too conservative.
Get the virus under control, and people actually wear the mask which they agreed to when buying a ticket and I’ll be there.
Bye bye then.
How about deciding if there’s gonna be a Universal DH
How about the DH ? It’s a little important.
As long as fans are let it. Let’s go. About a month away from Pitchers and Catchers reporting.
Huh?
What are you confused about? It’s great news they plan on starting on time especially if fans are let in. There’s only a month (give or take) til pitchers and catchers report.
Not going to be a popular suggestion, but whatever and here goes—-Bring a vaccination card with your ticket, get a seat.
Nope can’t force be get vaccine
Huh?
Oh where did you go,Joe DiMaggio
YAS!!!!
“Yas”? Are you a girl? I’ve never seen a guy type that.
Now allow fans to attend! All the covidiots can stay home
It’s because of mouthbreathers like you that this is still going on in the first place. But sure, you want a ballgame. So go spread it more. Genius.
Maybe it’s time to consider getting away from al vs. nl games that travel over ‘x’ amount of miles. Keep these games more local like Mets vs Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Indians. It’s kind of stupid to travel across the country at this time. I don’t anyone should be in a hurry to go to California.
This isn’t going to go well. It’s not going well for the NBA and it will not go well with MLB. Can’t wait to watch games with teams that barely have enough players to field a team or only have a couple of pitchers available for the entire game.
We’re you one of those people who didn’t believe they’d play the 60-game season and the postseason m?
this is funny. what else is manfred supposed to day at this point? of course he is “planning” on 162. what else would he be “planning on”? but i know everyone here know what they say about the best laid plans…
I trust Rob Manfred slightly less than public restroom toilet paper after Mexican food.