Coronavirus

As Major League Baseball readies a proposal for the Players Association regarding the resumption of play, ESPN’s Jeff Passan highlights some of the additional hurdles to clear. Notably, Passan indicates that some players have inquired with the union about what would happen if they opted not to play in 2020 due to fear regarding their own health or their desire to remain with family amid a global health crisis.

Both are understandable concerns; there are, after all, numerous players in Major League Baseball with underlying medical conditions that make them higher-risk cases. Players with diabetes or asthma and those who’ve overcome battles with cancer, for instance, could have reservations about returning to play — just as players who have higher-risk family members will also have increased trepidation. Nationals lefty Sean Doolittle spoke with The Athletic’s Jayson Stark this week about his wife’s acute asthma, which has in the past “flared up and manifested as pneumonia,” resulting in hospitalization. (To be clear, there’s no indication that Doolittle has inquired about opting not to play in 2020, but his case nonetheless stands out as a salient example of concerns that numerous players throughout the league surely harbor.)

There’s also, of course, the matter of economics. It’s been well documented at this point that the league’s owners will push for further reduction in player salary now that it’s clear fans won’t be in attendance for at least the early portion of the season (quite likely longer than that). Negotiations on that front had not formally begun as of yesterday, Newsday’s David Lennon reports. Presumably, the league’s plan with regard to player salary will be included in whatever proposal is produced, but as Joel Sherman of the New York Post wrote last night, it’s unlikely that the MLBPA will simply agree to whatever scale is initially suggested.

As for what the game itself could look like, Passan writes that some executives believe active rosters could carry as many as 30 players, while teams will more broadly have a pool of about 50 players apiece available to them. The specifics of such an arrangement would need to be ironed out. Still, some type of unique setup figures to be a necessity, given the unlikelihood of a standard minor league structure being in place for the 2020 season.

The looming question of how to proceed if a player or players test positive remains an unaddressed elephant in the room. Doolittle touched on the topic in his interview with Stark, noting the rapid manner in which any disease typically spreads through a big league clubhouse. “…[W]e’re in such close proximity, it’s impossible to enforce social distancing measures in a clubhouse when you’re trying to play a Major League Baseball season and prepare for games,” the veteran lefty said. Expanded active rosters would only further crowd things beyond the norm.

Obstacles notwithstanding, Doolittle and seemingly everyone else in the game is hopeful of reaching some type of agreement. Teams have indeed “encouraged” players to prep for a June training camp of sorts, Passan writes, though no specific dates are in place. And via Lennon, Yankees president Randy Levine said in a radio appearance on 1010 WINS that he believes the league is “moving closer to finalizing a plan” in spite of the murky economic picture:

The economics are really important, but we have to deal with the reality of the economics. Obviously, television isn’t the whole ballgame as far as the financial economics of the game. Sometimes you’ve got to play the games, play ball, and there are more important things than economics.

Whatever arrangement is proposed or agreed upon, it’s crucial to remember that it’ll be largely tentative in nature. The public health landscape is rapidly changing, and little can be set in stone so far in advance. Many fans have grown weary of conditional updates and the lack of a clear plan to proceed, but any decisions made will continue to be subject to abrupt change. That sentiment is surely at the root of the league’s recent pushback against the June 10 Spring Training and July 1 opener dates that Trevor Plouffe relayed on Twitter after hearing from friends on active rosters. As the league plans for a best-case scenario, it’s also keenly aware that the actuality could (or more likely will) look different from its optimistic outline.

5:53pm: The league’s proposal is expected to be presented to the Players Association by early next week and perhaps before the weekend, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. It’s expected to include a pay scale, though Sherman indicates that the MLBPA “almost certainly will reject” the terms put forth by MLB. That said, the league’s aim is to begin preparing for a best-case scenario so that in the unlikely event it comes together, the wheels will be in motion. And, if not, the logistics groundwork laid on this effort can be applied to dates further down the road.

Meanwhile, Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes tweets that the MLBPA just issued a memo to its members emphasizing that no proposal from the league has been received — particularly not one that specifies dates.

1:49pm: ESPN’s Jeff Passan said on Sportscenter today that some clubs have told players to “get ready” but without a specific date in mind. The June 10 Spring Training date and potential July 1 opener that Plouffe and Hughes have mentioned are the likely the earliest possible dates but are far from set in place, as everything hinges on the state of the ongoing pandemic.

The league has yet to even come to the Players Association with a proposal for the resumption of play, although that’s expected to happen within the next week or so.

10:43am: A couple of recent big leaguers created quite a stir when they suggested that MLB could have some dates in mind for starting play in the 2020 season. Trevor Plouffe (Twitter link) and Phil Hughes (Twitter link) indicated that a June 10th resumption of Spring Training and July 1st Opening Day were at least on the table (or about to be placed thereon).

There isn’t much support for Plouffe’s rather more optimistic initial framing of the dates, though subsequent developments indicate there could be some actual discussion of this general timeline. Phillies skipper Joe Girardi says he has “heard some chatter about that” potential schedule, as Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia writes. Jon Heyman of MLB Network characterized the dates as aspirational, as he has before (Twitter link).

Most interestingly, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes (subscription link) that Indians officials have floated a July 1st Opening Day in comments to players. But the dates were not set forth as as a firm plan so much as “mere targets, fully expected to change.”

This latest round of intrigue surrounding a resumption of play seems destined to go the way of the others we’ve seen — that is to say, it’ll ultimately prove obsolete when the next proposal hits the newswire. But that doesn’t mean it’s irrelevant to discuss, given the indications of some level of realistic contemplation around the league.

It’s notable, at minimum, that MLB is considering a season in which most or all of the play would occur in its typical home parks. We’ve heard all manner of possibilities for play involving the gathering of players in certain geographical areas, which broadly would hold out some potential for limiting certain risks associated with hosting games during a pandemic but also quite a few logistical and other challenges.

More interesting still is the concept of re-gathering players as soon as a month from now. Agent Scott Boras would like to see it occur even sooner than that, though there’s no shortage of reasons to question whether his viewpoint will take the day.

Though we’re still left without anything approaching real guideposts for a return of professional baseball to North America, it seems safe to presume that notions of a 162-game season can be put to rest. At the same time, the desire to attempt something like an otherwise mostly “normal” campaign (albeit sans fans in attendance) may be rising, as against the more drastic changes to the format of the game that had previously been floated.

Indeed, the major takeaway here may lie elsewhere in Rosenthal’s report. He writes that “the league’s goal, according to sources, is to open in as many home cities as possible.” Unfortunately, it still seems more an informed hope than a developed plan at this stage.

In an op-ed published by the New York Times, super-agent Scott Boras has called for baseball to “return the players to spring training-style camps as soon as possible.” The idea would be for MLB to take steps now to lead into a season that would provide fans with a “sense of hope and normalcy.”

It’s obviously not a unique concept to suggest holding a 2020 campaign — or to launch a second Spring Training in advance thereof. All of the various coronavirus-altered scheduling proposals have included some concept of players ramping back up to prepare.

What’s notable about the proposal from the game’s most powerful player representative is that it is premised not on a specific plan for resuming play, but on launching the preparatory steps even without one. Perhaps concerned with the possibility of a rushed second spring, and/or sensing a chance to build some momentum, Boras proposes re-gathering the players and support personnel that were scattered by the mid-March suspension of pre-season activities.

Boras writes:

“Even before we know when, where and how we will have an Opening Day, we should give players the chance to ramp up for Major League competition. Like many others, they are doing their best to make things work without access to the ballparks that are their ’offices.’ But the best basement batting cage or backyard mound can’t give world-class hitters and pitchers the game-speed preparation they need.”

Some might think this is putting the cart before the horse, particularly given the many concerns with ramping up economic and social activity at all at a point where infections are still on the rise.

But Boras does also suggest utilizing “staggered reporting dates” to ease the transition. And perhaps there’s an important underlying point here: by starting with team-by-team gathering for training, and then building up from there, MLB can iron out workable processes and accelerate as circumstances permit. It’s arguable that the alternative — at some point, declaring a target start date and then trying to ramp to prepare for it — is actually more fraught with risk and less likely to succeed.

Boras also notes that we can now learn from the experiences of Asian leagues. As we covered earlier today, Taiwan’s league is even nearing live fan attendance. Of course, even the preparatory stages that have led to a regular season in Taiwan and Korea only occurred after public disease transmission was brought under control.