While the return of Major League Baseball seems to be inching closer and closer, there still are a ton of logistics that need to be sorted out.
The No. 1 priority remains the safety of players and everyone involved, but the current disputes also involve the financial landscape of the league amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
With fans not expected to be in attendance for at least the start of a 2020 regular season, MLB owners are now trying to go back on the agreement they made with the Players Association in March that they would pay players prorated salaries.
The Players Association has reportedly yet to receive a new proposal from the owners, which is putting a pause in sorting out other logistics such as how long the season will be, where games will be played, what the postseason format will be, etc.
And with it all, local governments have opined about how and when a season may begin. With several opinions around, Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said his team is not yet planning a course of action, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“We’ve been asked almost daily about different politicians’ take on any given day,” Friedman said. “Our approach has remained the same – that things are seemingly changing day to day and it’s difficult to look too far out. But anything that is positive and pointing towards us being able to play games at Dodger Stadium is a good thing.”
While playing all games in Arizona and Florida has been proposed, the most recent report indicates that teams will play games at their home stadiums. California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently indicated that sporting events without fans could take place as soon as June, which would pave the way for the Dodgers to host games at Dodger Stadium whenever the season starts.
One other proposal that seems to be gaining traction is the addition of a universal designated hitter, which could benefit organizations like the Dodgers due to their tremendous depth.
While the 2020 season will be much different than any other, it seems that Friedman and the Dodgers are prepared for whatever takes place as they look to get back to and win the World Series for the first time since 1988.
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