As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic sweeps the nation, most of the major professional sports leagues have been forced to temporarily suspend operations for the time being.
Major League Baseball cancelled all remaining Spring Training games and pushed back the start of the regular season. With play unlikely to resume until the middle of May, at the earliest, some are beginning to speculate what that could mean for a few of the sport’s yearly events.
As of now, the National Baseball Hall of Fame ceremony/weekend is still slated to take place on July 24-27. However, the Classic Weekend events scheduled for May 22-24 were cancelled.
While the 2020 All-Star Game is on track to take place at Dodger Stadium, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred could not guarantee that will be the outcome in the event of a lengthy delay.
In addition to the Midsummer Classic potentially being in jeopardy, the league is reportedly considering doing away with the 2020 MLB Draft and upcoming international signing period as a way to save funds, via Ronald Blum of The Associated Press:
Major League Baseball is considering skipping its amateur draft this year and putting off the next international signing period as a way to preserve cash while games are affected by the new coronavirus, people familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press.
The 2020 MLB Draft, as it stands, will be held from June 10-12. The new international signing period additionally begins on July 2 and runs through June 15, 2021.
Canceling the draft would cast even more uncertainty on the sport with regard to eligible high school and college prospects, as well as the order of picks. The Los Angeles Dodgers hold the Nos. 29, 61 and 67 selections over the first two rounds.
Along with the growing amount of questions surrounding the 2020 Draft, another issue that must be addressed should the season face a long delay or cancellation involves service time.
It is currently unclear whether players set to become free agents at the end of the year will still be able to test the open market. The MLB and MLBPA are said to be at odds over this, though a solution is expected sooner rather than later.
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