Discussion

zambonir 2020-07-30 18:52:16 UTC #114

At this point I feel like the only question is would they consider having a season without all 30 teams, and if so, what's the line? How many missed games before it's not enough, how many teams could they eliminate? Both soccer leagues did this but a tournament is a very different beast.

Otherwise, there's no season. But there might not be anyway.

The way this was supposed to work is actually how MLB did it on Sunday - you lose four players, you replace them, you move on. But that doesn't track with how the incubation and testing actually works. And obviously the definition of "close contact" is highly debatable as well.

How would you like to be Cristopher Sanchez right now?

andyb 2020-07-30 18:54:32 UTC #115

He signed for $65,000 7 years ago. He has every right to be OK with MLB minimum salary pay if only for a few weeks later in the season.

zambonir 2020-07-30 19:14:04 UTC #116

I am sure that he is absolutely thrilled to be getting the opportunity and the salary but there's a non-zero chance he'll actually pitch for the Phillies in a week or two - which would also be great for him, but right now it also makes him feel like cannon fodder, and also a decision he gets little say in (unlike the AAAA guys who could more easily afford to just walk away, and also wouldn't be walking away from the beginning of a dream).

andyb 2020-07-30 19:16:03 UTC #117

Gelb on the current situation.

Includes the pretty obvious conclusion that there is no way now to play 60 games. The Phillies would have to play 57 games in 56 days starting Monday so that is not going to happen. I think MLB will just drop entire series and reschedule on the fly if a team is idled.

Not ideal and the Phillies are concerned that their pitchers have not been able to throw really during the past 4 days.

Austinfan 2020-07-30 19:31:51 UTC #118

Nah, they just told the food processor workers that they weren't going to identify people with COVID, and you could come to work or starve.

At least high paid MLB players got a choice, a lot of people were forced to work in unsafe conditions at low pay.

Austinfan 2020-07-30 19:33:32 UTC #119

Especially since many players weren't wearing masks in the dugout, so I suspect they were similarly negligent in the clubhouse.

schillingfan 2020-07-30 19:49:40 UTC #120

A lot of people, which includes MLB players and the Herman Cains of the world don’t seem to take it seriously as highly infectious and deadly. They think it happens to someone else, and don’t u derstand that if someone in a group who are together gets it, most will get it. I also don’t think it sunk into MLB the lead time before you test positive after you’ve been exposed. They assume one positive person, remove him and you’ve taken care of the issue.

zambonir 2020-07-30 19:51:12 UTC #121

If they really end up having a season and this happens multiple times, I think you have to at least re-do the playoff format to eliminate divisions. Right now the three division winners are seeded 1-3, the second place teams 4-6 and then 7-8 wild card. If it's going to be by winning percentage and some teams play as few as 50 games while others play as many as 60 (being optimistic here) just go with straight 8 best teams in each league. It wouldn't really be fair for the second-place team in the NL East to get in over a better third-place team in another division if that NL East team has also played five fewer games, and one that may have feasted on the COVID-decimated Marlins and rusty Phillies too.

andyb 2020-07-30 19:53:43 UTC #122

There is no great way to seed the playoffs if teams play wildly different numbers of games. I am not sure they would revise it that month if everyone at least gets to the 50-game mark. I think you have to have at least 2 per division no matter what. Maybe you could play with the wild card rules a bit.

el-pietro 2020-07-30 20:01:02 UTC #123

I wonder how they'd handle the draft in that scenario. Do you give the Phillies/Marlins picks one and two, picks 15 and 16 or some randomly generated pick number?

If we could get the first pick that might be some small compensation to the fans for losing a season. Doesn't make up for the health risks to players/staff of course.

zambonir 2020-07-30 20:24:02 UTC #124

I kind of doubt they'd do it. The soccer was different, reducing the tournament draw (plus MLS currently intends to have a season, including making up three missed tournament games that count in the league standings). MLB or the other 28 teams would also have to pay the salaries of the cancelled teams.

I'm not even suggesting the Phillies and Marlins are the teams it will happen to. They've got time to resume the season, even if obviously truncated. But what if it happens again in three weeks? Five to six weeks and I suppose you do probably just end a few teams' seasons and continue. But what if one of those teams was the Dodgers or Yankees?

Plus the season is so freakin' short. What if our 1-2 Phillies are, say, 10-16 on August 25th? Will players opt-out? Harper's been pretty cavalier about everything, but his wife is still pregnant. And would Didi or Arrieta or JT get traded?

andyb 2020-07-30 20:25:11 UTC #125

Combined winning percentage for 2019 and 2020? That is probably better than repeating the 2019 order.

zambonir 2020-07-30 20:44:07 UTC #126

I think el-p's first idea is probably better. If your season gets cancelled completely you essentially have a .000 winning percentage. The COVID tank!

If the whole season is cancelled I could see them doing a combined record, or a some kind of lottery on top of that. How did they do it in '96?

julio 2020-07-30 20:46:42 UTC #127

Sadly, the only way it will sink in to some of these lunkheads is if somebody they know - or somebody they idolize - falls sick and dies from COVID-19. Somebody's ace starting pitcher, or a perennial All-Star center fielder, or some such. But by the time that wakeup call comes, it will be too late.

julio 2020-07-30 20:53:15 UTC #128

No. This "season" is rapidly becoming a joke, and these kinds of disruptions will continue. The 2021 draft? Just use the 2020 draft order (adjusted for any unsigned high-round picks that generate comp picks) and be done with it. There's no reason to pretend that any results that can be scraped together from 2020 will mean anything, or that the represent real qualitative differences between clubs.

Just stop pretending. What we have in 2020 is a circus. I mean, it is, literally, a circus. It's a collection of entertaining exhibitions under the big top. It's not a baseball season. And it cannot somehow be "made into" a baseball season by wishful thinking, or by just declaring it to be so. We all should have learned by now that repeating nonsense repeatedly doesn't somehow turn nonsense into sense (although sometimes that nonsense becomes seen as "common sense"?). Telling the same lie, over and over, doesn't make it true, no matter how loudly you yell.

flyers19rw 2020-07-30 21:15:28 UTC #129

If I was Wheeler with a wife at home who just gave birth and a ten day old baby, I'd tell the Phillies that I'll see them in the spring. Its not worth the chance. Actually the same for Didi. He's at risk and now has come close to being exposed due to some knot heads on the opposing team. My sense is that the Phillies as a team have solid leadership with Girardi and his coaching staff. Add to that some sensible leaders on the roster who are probably setting good examples for all involved to stay healthy. However you can't account for the opposition.

zambonir 2020-07-30 21:21:35 UTC #130

Well, we could all agree the season should have never been played and definitely should not be played now and just lock this thread. But until then, we can speculate.

While it's true that even if they pull a season off it won't be representative, it still has to be counted. If the Reds and Rangers make the playoffs and we don't, I wouldn't want them still drafting ahead of us. If the season falls apart completely it won't matter. I think it will all be moot, but who knows? While all this has been going on the other teams have continued to play baseball.

Yup, you gotta figure Wheeler and Didi are thinking hard right now.

bkeich 2020-07-30 22:43:01 UTC #131

How about instead of having a 60 man roster with 26-30 active we have two 30 man rosters both of which play double headers each day. Can get the 60 game season in 15 days. Whichever teams still have any not sick make the playoffs.

Or let’s just have a EA Sports MLB 2020 online tournament with the players Playing as themselves from remote locations.

Or better yet, save time and have each team select one player to be sacrificed and see if the Networks and owners are satisfied with that. We can televise the executions, maybe have a Hunger Games style fight to the death with only baseball bats as weapons.

allentown 2020-07-30 22:48:20 UTC #132

If it's counted, then it has to determine the draft order. Since the 'big market advandtage' has been nulified this year, the additional charity picks should be eliminated and the international bonus pools should be equal.

If the season doesn't count, it would be unfair to reward the 2019 cellar dwellars with the early picks in two drafts, instead of the normal one. Since the draft is likely to be shortened yet again, all teams should be given the same bonus pool. Spend it however you choose. Perhaps draw lots for order in the first round, and then invert that order for all subsequent rounds. Perhaps not even have a draft or slots and just let each team spend the fixed pot of money however they choose. You can try to sign one of the top three projected talents or follow the AF formula and sign 20 mid-priced guys for $400K.

Philsmania 2020-07-30 23:03:14 UTC #133

Is it possible that MLB could just cancel the Phillies and Marlins for the rest of the season and go with a 28 game season? Anytime someone was supposed to play the Phillies or Marlins, they can play the team that was supposed to play the corresponding team.