Commissioner Rob Manfred is determined to bring back baseball before the end of the summer
In recent news that brought, besides excitement for the fans, a lot more questions than answers, an insider from MLB said that this year’s season will be played even in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. The coronavirus outbreak has paused all sports competitions for more than a month, and, even though the leagues have discussed options to resume seasons, things are still crazy out there. ESPN’s Jeff Passan, after getting information from someone on the inside of MLB, wrote that the MLB season will return, but how and when are still being decided.
The MLB presented an unofficial plan to bring all clubs and players together to a place in which they can play while isolated, but many players reacted negatively at the thought of leaving their families behind. Passan explains, “Over the past two weeks, as states have begun to plan their reopening, nearly everyone along the decision-making continuum — league officials, players, union leaders, owners, doctors, politicians, TV power brokers, team executives — has grown increasingly optimistic that there will be baseball this year.”
According to Passan, there are some hopeful and positive things to take from this, despite the fact that there is nothing certain yet regarding the continuation of the MLB yet. These issues are being worked on, and one possibility stands out. It could be that a 60-day tournament to define the World Series winner – which is something Passan mentioned – might be attractive to individuals who prefer playing a short version of the regular season than to be constantly exposed to play amid the coronavirus pandemic. Especially among those MLB players who haven’t receive their payments yet, they are anxious about returning to the field. As Passan wrote, “They’ve got bills to pay and skills to hone.”
