The immediate future of Major League Baseball is currently in question due to essentially the whole world being on lockdown because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Opening Day for many teams, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, would have been Thursday, but that is obviously not happening as it is currently unknown when the 2020 season will be able to start.
MLB’s hope is to get as close to a full season as possible, even if they continue to play into November or possibly December with postseason games at neutral sites to offset potential weather trouble.
According to Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN, it appears players are even willing to play doubleheaders to help get close to a full season in a shorter period of time:
Multiple players told ESPN they are willing to play a significant number of doubleheaders — as many as two per week — to make up for lost games and try to get as close to a full 162-game schedule as possible.
Obviously, the health of everyone in the country comes first during a pandemic like this. With that being said, it is encouraging to see MLB and its players are searching for solutions to get a 2020 season in once they are able to return to the field.
If the season is shortened, there would need to be a lot of questions answered in regards to service time for players. It was recently reported that the league and MLB Players Association have agreed to grant a full year of service time to players regardless of how many games are played.
That would affect the Dodgers and star right fielder Mookie Betts, whom they acquired from the Boston Red Sox this past offseason. He is set to reach free agency this winter and it looks like that will remain the case regardless of how short the 2020 season is.
With doubleheaders potentially an option, it seems that all parties are committed to trying to play as normal of a season as possible once the coronavirus gets under control throughout the country.
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