MLB 2020

[imrahil327]

This feels like it's strayed pretty far from MLB.

[rhendon]

This feels like it's strayed pretty far from MLB.

So its on par with most of our discussions on here.

[quickdraw3457]

This feels like it's strayed pretty far from MLB.

Its almost certainly more on topic now than it was when I brought star wars into it.

[rhendon]

Saw latest proposal forced a DH into the NL for 2021. Oh so close to unified rules and the enjoyment of watching real hitters hit the ball instead of an easy out every 3 innings.

[swyodarth]

I'll miss not having the DH. Not to be confused with "the pitcher hitting". Double switches and pitching/hitting/baserunning around the pitcher's spot are enjoyable to me.


Anyhoo, I'm pretty much indifferent to a season at this point. A two week "summer training" followed by 48-60 games is less of a season and more of an exhibition with a tournament at the end. Add in strange regional schedules and players and owners hating each other and I've gone from watching or listening to every game to not really caring. Also, calling it the "MLB Championship" instead of "World Series" would be appropriate for this year.


Oh, and for the above - the prequels are pretty good, and the sequels are total garbage. Though a lot of the expanded lore from books, shows, etc. have helped make the prequels better to me over time. Fingers crossed they can do that for the sequels, but not at all optimistic.

[timeofyouppi]

by far the worst rule change suggestion is making the regular season matter a lot less in 2021 and beyond with 14 or 16 playoff teams.

[timeofyouppi]

60 game season being imposed by MLB starting 7/24. No automatic outs for 2020 or 2021. Best part:

"Over the last two days, MLB agreed to remove expanded Postseason in 2021 in order to address player concerns"

Full statement:

"Today, the Major League Baseball Players Association informed us that they have rejected the agreement framework developed by Commissioner Manfred and Tony Clark. Needless to say, we are disappointed by this development.

"The framework provided an opportunity for MLB and its players to work together to confront the difficulties and challenges presented by the pandemic. It gave our fans the chance to see an exciting new Postseason format. And, it offered players significant benefits including:

The universal DH for two years
A guaranteed $25 million in playoff pools in 2020
$33 million in forgiven salary advances that would increase the take home pay of 61% of Major League players
Overall earnings for players of 104 percent of prorated salary
Over the last two days, MLB agreed to remove expanded Postseason in 2021 in order to address player concerns
"In view of this rejection, the MLB Clubs have unanimously voted to proceed with the 2020 season under the terms of the March 26th Agreement. The provisions listed above will not be operative.

"In order to produce a schedule with a specific number of games, we are asking that the Players Association provide to us by 5:00 p.m. (ET) tomorrow with two pieces of information. The first is whether players will be able to report to camp within seven days (by July 1st). The second is whether the Players Association will agree on the Operating Manual which contains the health and safety protocols necessary to give us the best opportunity to conduct and complete our regular season and Postseason."

[quesosauce37]

* the DH

[JarJarDrinks]

I'll miss not having the DH. Not to be confused with "the pitcher hitting". Double switches and pitching/hitting/baserunning around the pitcher's spot are enjoyable to me.

Oh er...

...

I'll let it slide cuz at least u didnt try to convince anyone a sac bunt is exciting.

[TacoBill]

No one thinks a sac bunt is exciting, but it is strategic.

[rhendon]

I'll miss not having the DH. Not to be confused with "the pitcher hitting". Double switches and pitching/hitting/baserunning around the pitcher's spot are enjoyable to me.

I like seeing the best pitcher vs the best hitter. I enjoyed watching Pedro pitch deep into games and not hurt his team by having to hit. When you have a dominant pitcher like him, Verlander, Kershaw, Randy Johnson, Schilling, Glavine, Maddox, etc, those guys were rarely involved in those decisions. The manager is going to want them out there throwing as long as they can give him. So all we're doing is just giving the other team an easier out than watching those dominant pitchers go against a specialized dominant hitter.

Also a DH allows you to keep your hitters available to your team and you can rotate guys through the DH to give them rest in the field.

If pitchers could maintain a Mendoza line level of hitting, then I wouldn't really care about the DH. But even in the NL, those pitchers can't reach Mendoza levels, then they shouldn't be out there batting. Watching Randy Johnson swing his first year in the NL was painful. Watching him at the end wasn't painful but it still was bad.

[Spoiler Man]

So whats everyone's thoughts on this upcoming season?


Big things:

* 60 Game Season
* * * 40 Games in-division, 20 games out of division
* 30 Man Roster
* Trade Deadline is July 31st/August 1st
* DH in both leagues
* A man starts on 2nd Base in Extra Innings
* Players can opt out of the season for health reasons (pregnancy of wives, family, their own sickness)


I think that covers the major changes to this season.

Whats everyones thoughts on it? The predictions for your team? Who wins the WS? Should we put an asterisk on this season? If the Yanks finally get #28 does this diminish it in your mind? Etc.

[JarJarDrinks]

only thing I'm not too crazy about is the man on 2nd thing. Don't care too much, just wanna see ganmes.

[lsrubin]

There are pros and cons to the DH, and I think a person's opinion on it comes down to whether they grew up an AL or NL fan.

I'm a lifelong NL fan and don't like the DH, BUT I think it's better that both leagues use the same rules. It's also pretty clear that it's given the AL a competitive advantage in free agency. Look at the Josh Donaldson deal from this past winter: he talked to a few NL teams and they were all really hesitant to give him a 4-year deal, because he's a 3rd baseman and already 32. But the Twins not only gave him 4 years, they also gave him a 5th year option. (If and when he can't play 3B anymore, he can just switch to DH.) That was a no-brainer for him, and there was no way he was getting that deal in the NL.

So, because there's no way the AL will ever get rid of it, I welcome the NL adopting the DH. Maybe now we won't keep losing our best free agents to the AL now.

---

Thoughts on the season:

Statistically speaking, the normal MLB season and playoff structure is pretty good at making sure the best 10 teams make the playoffs (i.e. large sample size, little room for flukes), and pretty bad at making sure the best 1 of those 10 teams wins the World Series (i.e. small sample size, you can absolutely get lucky in October even if you're the 7th best team on paper). Now the regular season just gets more random, and the postseason stays the same. I think if a team like, say, the Mariners makes a ridiculous run, gets into the postseason, and wins the whole thing, I would probably look at that suspiciously (even though I would definitely be happy for their fans). But if a team like the Yankees or Dodgers does it, I'd probably be like "well, they would've made the playoffs in a 162-game season anyway, so this outcome seems fine to me."

Nationals prediction: We lost Anthony Rendon, but gained Starlin Castro, Eric Thames, and Will Harris. Infield should be a really interesting platoon situation. Bullpen should be improved from last year. We need Victor Robles to take a step forward with his bat, and Carter Kieboom needs to be ready for the big leagues this time. The shorter season benefits our team full of old guys, but having to play just the NL East and AL East is tough. I think we go just over .500, but not by much. I predict another 2nd place finish in the NL East. Whether that's good enough for a wild card spot is anyone's guess.

WS prediction: saying Yankees-Dodgers is really boring, but... yeah, I'm picking Yankees-Dodgers. Dodgers in 7.

[rhendon]

I honestly will wonder about there even being a season now. Arizona, Texas and Florida are having outbreaks all over again. They opened up too soon and fast. MLB, NBA and NFL are having players test positive trying to get ready. I wonder if they will actually be able to create that bubble and now allow this thing in and hit the players, and staff.

I also wonder if all the players will report. We are seeing some NBA players not report because of safety concerns and other issues. At what point do the players go, I'll pass this year and make sure I'm safe. I'll give up a little to be safe. I know some live paycheck to paycheck (which is crazy with their salaries), but there are some that are pretty set. Like what if someone like Trout is like, its not worth the risk and stays home. That can easily change a season for a team.

I still think we are rushing things way to fast because not enough people are taking it seriously to slow the spread.