Phillies’ Bryce Harper Proposes East/West Realignment, 135-Game Schedule & Postseason Tournament For 2020 MLB Regular Season

Now two months into what should have been the 2020 regular season, Major League Baseball is working toward salvaging what it can. Commission Rob Manfred already conceded playing a 162-game season was out of the question, and MLB’s latest talks center around half that many.

While outlining a scenario to play an estimated 82 games this year, MLB additionally proposed to the Players Association an expanded field in the postseason to 14 teams, among other changes. Of course, the more pressing matters are the economics, player safety and coronavirus (COVID-19) testing.

As MLB and the union remain in negotiations over the proposal, Bryce Harper offered his suggestions for how a season could be structured. The Philadelphia Phillies outfielder suggested taking a page from the NBA by aligning divisions for East and West, playing 135 games with seven-inning doubleheaders on Sundays, and days off every other Monday.

Harper additionally pitched a postseason tournament at neutral sites, akin to what’s seen with the College World Series.

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Baseball Season:⠀ Beyond the health and safety which comes first for all players, staff, workers, fans, and families. ⠀ ⠀ Just an idea I have been thinking about. ⠀ ⠀ East/West like NBA. ⠀ ⠀ July 31 days⠀ August 31 days ⠀ September 30 days ⠀ October 31 days ⠀ November 15 days ⠀ 135 games. ⠀ Off day every 2 weeks on a Monday and Sunday double header 7 innings. ⠀ ⠀ 30 players. 6 man rotation. Save arms. IF pitchers wanted this. If not no big deal. DH and any other ideas possible.⠀ ⠀ Playoffs ⠀ 2 week World Series. Like Super bowl week. ⠀ ⠀ 10 teams round robin format College World Series kinda style at the new Texas Stadium or whatever stadium/ stadiums are best. 3 game series. You win the series you move on. You lose you play the other loser in a 1 game wildcard. Winner of that moves on. Other team is out. ⠀ Or you could play it in Vegas so you have the Strip Hotels and could use one hotel for all the guys and contain possibly? ⠀ ⠀ 2 teams left 7 game World Series. They get 2 days off before the series. With those 2 days off you do a All Star Game and homerun derby. Could do the MLB awards as well at that time. ⠀ ⠀ Open this up on all platforms. No blackouts. Open it for everybody to watch. ⠀ Then you back up season the next 2 years. May 1st 2021. April 1st 2022. Maybe I’m crazy. Just fun to think about and throw around ideas🤪

A post shared by Bryce Harper (@bryceharper3) on May 15, 2020 at 10:27pm PDT

Harper’s idea has MLB playing games well into the fall and winter, which the league reportedly is against given anticipation over a second wave of the coronavirus. Revenues for the regular season already figure to be severely diminished with the likelihood games will have to be played without fans in attendance.

Having the postseason interrupted would further cut into revenues by way of TV dollars.

Where Harper and MLB do appear to be aligned is with expanded rosters and a universal designated hitter. The DH being incorporated in the National League was viewed as a possibility within the next few years anyhow, and it’s being presented in 2020 as further means to help protect pitchers.

Whether Harper’s proposal or the plan that was submitted to the Players Association, the biggest obstacles seemingly lie on the health front. MLBPA executive director Tony Clark previously indicated vast testing and a vaccine were required in order to begin the season.

MLB reportedly reached an agreement with a Utah lab on the testing front, but the development of a vaccine is at least several months off.

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