MLB is "grappling with a number of key issues that could come to a head over the next few days" as it "handles the coronavirus pandemic and tries to determine when -- or even if -- it will begin its season," according to sources cited by Passan & McDaniel of ESPN.com. Sources said that among the issues MLB is facing include a deal with the MLBPA that "would advance a portion of players' salaries and cover a wide swath of labor-related issues" and "receiving assurances from teams that non-player employees will receive paychecks" through at least next month, with cost-cutting measures a possibility come May. Sources added another issue is "delivering payments to minor league players, most of whom have not received a paycheck since the end of last season." Multiple players said that they are "willing to play a significant number of doubleheaders -- as many as two a week -- to make up for lost games and try to get as close to a full 162-game schedule as possible." Sources said that both sides "agree that if necessary, regular-season games could stretch onto October and playoff games could be played at neutral sites in November, either in warm-weather cities or, if government officials allow indoor events, domed stadiums." Sources added that expanded-playoff scenarios "have been under discussion but are likely to be settled as the scope of the coronavirus outbreak becomes clearer" (ESPN.com, 3/25).
LAND OF UNCERTAINTY: In DC, Dave Sheinin wrote a May start date is "already looking bleak, based on that CDC timeline -- which now, given the continued spread of the virus, appears hopelessly optimistic -- and the necessity of a two- to four-week ramp-up before arms and legs can be ready to play ball." Sheinin: "So maybe June? July? August? Perhaps not again until 2021?" Nobody can say for certain, but baseball "ultimately has little say on when, or if, its 2020 season will begin." Given "everything else we are confronting, it seems trivial to even ponder." But the truth remains, with each day that passes, the "baseball season shrinks," or rather, it "shrinks on the front end." Sheinin: "The question for a sport hoping to salvage its season may eventually pivot from 'How soon can baseball start up again?' to 'How deep into the calendar can it be played?'" (WASHINGTON POST, 3/25).
