Let There Be Baseball

Fear not my fellow baseball fans, we will have our National Pastime this summer. There still a few details to be hammered out, but we do know for sure that Major League Baseball will have a 2020 regular season. Schedules of who teams play when and where are still being worked out but we do know we will get baseball this year.

Here's what we know so far. Spring training will begin on July 1st, with the regular season set to start either July 23rd or July 24th. The league will have a 60 game schedule for the regular season, which is slated to go through the end of September. Once October hits, we will see the playoff format that we usually get every fall.

The league wants to try and cut down on travel as much as possible, which makes sense given everything that's going on in the world right now. So the 30 Major League clubs, its believed, will be broken up into regions. They will look something like this:

East:

New York Yankees and Mets, Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins

Central:

Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins, Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers

West:

Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels, San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Texas Rangers, Houston Astros, Seattle Mariners

Again no word yet of this is the actual alignment, but that's what appears to be the case. It makes the most sense to have it play out this way, cutting down on travel and what not. Only thing that has me curious is what's going to happen with the Toronto Blue Jays if they still have the restrictions on crossing the border between the US and Canada? Only time will tell on that front. Oh but wait there's more. Before the schedule or anything like that even gets put out, there's a few things that the players and the owners had to agree on to get the ball rolling.

Camps resume on the 1st, with pitchers and catchers being the first ones to show up, followed by position players. Teams can only invite 60 players to big league camp, with only those players eligible to play during the season. Part of the league heath and safty protocal, the Designated Hitter will be used across the board this season (something I wouldn't mind seeing stick around from here on out if this works well but more on that at another time).As far as the money goes, players will be paid a full prorated portion of their 2020 salary based on games played, which will equal approximately 37 percent for the full season.

Oh, but we're not done yet According to mlb.com, there's going to some big rule changes for this shortened season. They are as follows:

•Teams will open the season with a 30-man active roster; it will be reduced to 28 players after two weeks, then to 26 after four weeks.

•The Trade Deadline will be Aug. 31.

•To be eligible for the postseason, a player must be added to the Major League roster by Sept. 15.

•Teams will be permitted to carry up to three taxi-squad players on the road during the season, though if a team carries three such players, one must be a catcher.

•During extra-inning games in the regular season, each half-inning will begin with a runner on second base. The batter who made the final out in the previous inning (or a pinch-runner for that batter) would be that runner.

•There will be a 10-day injured list for both pitchers and hitters, though the 60-day IL will be reduced to a 45-day IL.

•There will be a separate IL for players who either test positive or have symptoms/confirmed exposure to COVID-19. There is no maximum or minimum days for this IL.

•MLB’s transaction freeze, which has been in place since the season was suspended, will end on Friday at 12 p.m. ET.

•In addition to COVID-19 testing every other day, some other health precautions are as follows: Team personnel and players not likely to participate in the game (for example, the next day's starting pitcher) will be sitting in the stands or another area designated by the club, at least six feet apart; non-playing personnel will wear masks in dugout and bullpen at all times; no spitting or chewing tobacco (gum is permitted); no celebratory contact (high-fives, fist bumps, hugs, etc.).

So that's what things are looking like, right now, to get baseball back out on the field. Of course as more information becomes available, we will pass word along. I'm digging some of the changes for this year. Fan of the universal DH, not exactly sold just yet on starting the runner at 2nd base in extra innings. Things could change once the season starts, as could opinions on things. Again we shall see as things play out.