The world was turned upside down this year due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It caused MLB to halt — and then cancel — the remainder of Spring Training and delay the start of the regular season until July.
That came after several weeks of failed negotiations between team owners and the MLB Players Association over pay structure and number of games the schedule should include. It led to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred exercising his authority to unilaterally impose a 60-game season.
It wasn’t until the National League Championship Series that a reduced number of fans were permitted to be in attendance. Manfred estimated the league suffered losses of $3 billion, with Los Angeles Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten saying his club specifically lost more than $100 million of revenue this year.
While there had been optimism for next year, owners and the MLBPA appear to be at odds over how to handle Spring Training and the regular season with respect to the COVID vaccine that is beginning to be distributed, via Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY:
Major League Baseball executives and owners, wanting players to be vaccinated before arriving to spring training, would like the 2021 season to be delayed until May, even if it means shortening the season to 140 or fewer games.
The Major League Baseball Players Association, believing it proved a year ago that teams can safely adapt to protocols, wants the season to start on time, playing all 162 games with full pay.
In order to get teams through the 2020 season, MLB instituted a wide range of health and safety protocols. As thorough as those were, that still didn’t prove to be enough as the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals experienced outbreaks that put the season in danger of being cancelled.
The teams managed to navigate the challenges and the season forged ahead without any repeat of a similar situation.
Dodgers added to MLB’s protocols
As the Marlins and Cardinals were coping with their respective outbreaks, the Dodgers took it upon themselves to be more diligent as a team to better ensure the safety of players in what they hoped would be a World Series season.
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