COVID-19 impact on MLB season

[homer]

Cynical me thinks the owners leaked this like it was a done deal just to make the players look bad when they reject it.

[A Swing and A Drive]

I want to see a team go 26 - 34, make the playoffs and go all the way to the World Series.

 

Well I believe the 8 seed would only need to beat the 1 seed in a 3 game series in this concept. lol

 

Cynical me thinks the owners leaked this like it was a done deal just to make the players look bad when they reject it.

 

Nailed it!

[CheezWizHed]

I want to see a team go 26 - 34, make the playoffs and go all the way to the World Series.

 

Sounds like something the Cardinals would do...

[DHonks]

It playoff revenues are so important, why not do a play-in tourney? All 30 teams get in. 9-12 teams could get byes. If it's 12, then the other 18 teams would be placed into 3 pools of 6 teams. Over 5 days, teams play each of the 5 opponents in their pool. If there's a clear winner, they advance to the final 16. The team with the next best record overall makes the 16th team.

From there they can go to 5 or 7 game series. Make the playoffs more like a little league tournament of sorts that leads into a traditional post season

Edited June 18, 2020 by DHonks

[adambr2]

 

sure you will...

 

 

Just like you stopped watching the NFL because of kneeling....

 

That is a true story. Haven't watched a single down since I made that commitment, it wasn't an empty threat.

 

Saying you will probably stop going to games is exactly that, an empty threat, and you know it.

 

If you chose to stop watching the NFL completely, because of kneeling, shouldn't it be understandable to you that many people will choose to stop attending MLB games because of a hideous and tone deaf labor dispute during a time of national crisis?

[DHonks]

To be honest, I hope that this dialogue leads into labor peace over the CBA.

[pacopete4]

There it is...

 

Per TomH:

Pending MLB agreement reportedly includes DH in NL for both 2020 and 2021. Then comes new CBA which almost certainly will include it. So, NL is a DH league now.

[owbc]

It playoff revenues are so important, why not do a play-in tourney? All 30 teams get in. 9-12 teams could get byes. If it's 12, then the other 18 teams would be placed into 3 pools of 6 teams. Over 5 days, teams play each of the 5 opponents in their pool. If there's a clear winner, they advance to the final 8. The team with the next best record overall makes the 16th team.

From there they can go to 5 or 7 game series. Make the playoffs more like a little league tournament of sorts that leads into a traditional post season

 

Maybe this will lead us toward scratching the 162-game season altogether, which would be a plus in my opinion. There are all sorts of creative ideas out there--they could play a fully-balanced 80 or 90 game schedule that ends at the all-star break. Then the teams get split into two groups, playing two separate round-robin tournaments consisting of best-of-5 series (stats count for regular season). The top tier is for postseason seeding and the lower for international pool money and draft rankings. Then a traditional postseason based on the results of the top-tier round robin tournament. Make it extra fun by allowing one or two of the lower-tier teams into the postseason and eliminating some of the top-tier teams after the round robin.

[Thurston Fluff]

It playoff revenues are so important, why not do a play-in tourney? All 30 teams get in. 9-12 teams could get byes. If it's 12, then the other 18 teams would be placed into 3 pools of 6 teams. Over 5 days, teams play each of the 5 opponents in their pool. If there's a clear winner, they advance to the final 8. The team with the next best record overall makes the 16th team.

From there they can go to 5 or 7 game series. Make the playoffs more like a little league tournament of sorts that leads into a traditional post season

 

Maybe this will lead us toward scratching the 162-game season altogether, which would be a plus in my opinion. There are all sorts of creative ideas out there--they could play a fully-balanced 80 or 90 game schedule that ends at the all-star break. Then the teams get split into two groups, playing two separate round-robin tournaments consisting of best-of-5 series (stats count for regular season). The top tier is for postseason seeding and the lower for international pool money and draft rankings. Then a traditional postseason based on the results of the top-tier round robin tournament. Make it extra fun by allowing one or two of the lower-tier teams into the postseason and eliminating some of the top-tier teams after the round robin.

 

For me baseball is part of my daily routine. I miss the games the few days they have off. That's part of it being America's pastime. Listening to the game while playing with my dog is near religion to me. It's that daily experience that creates the connection to the team and players which drive me to take in an occasional game in person. Making it half of the days and I lose that connection. Then it would be just a sport.

[owbc]

For me baseball is part of my daily routine. I miss the games the few days they have off. That's part of it being America's pastime. Listening to the game while playing with my dog is near religion to me. It's that daily experience that creates the connection to the team and players which drive me to take in an occasional game in person. Making it half of the days and I lose that connection. Then it would be just a sport.

 

I don't think they would necessarily lose games with a modified season (maybe 10 or 20 at most), it would just give more meaning to each "series" in the second half of the season since they would count toward the round-robin.

 

BTW I consume baseball the same way. The only Brewers game I watched on TV for more than an inning or two last year was the wild card game. But I'm a religious radio listener.

[BuckyBrewer61]

There’s no way the season will be shortened for one simple reason, and we all know what that is. Tweaked? Maybe, though I hope not. But any format that means less games isn’t happening, with the possible exception of doing so in a way that adds more playoff games/teams. Edited June 18, 2020 by BuckyBrewer61

[JosephC]

Uggghhhh, they are looking to put advertising on team uniforms in 2020 and 2021 (which actually means from now until the end of time). Having the Nike logo was bad enough, but I would have made an exception if they would have placed it in the butt crack. Can't wait for the days when uniforms look like stock cars, which will probably be much sooner than people expect. Why not just get it over with an get rid of the Brewer name and just be the Milwaukee AmFam's (until the contract runs out of course)?

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Uggghhhh, they are looking to put advertising on team uniforms in 2020 and 2021 (which actually means from now until the end of time). Having the Nike logo was bad enough, but I would have made an exception if they would have placed it in the butt crack. Can't wait for the days when uniforms look like stock cars, which will probably be much sooner than people expect. Why not just get it over with an get rid of the Brewer name and just be the Milwaukee AmFam's (until the contract runs out of course)?

 

I dunno ... concern over having a couple more logos on a uniform seems trivial to me, considering everything else happening (or not happening) with MLB so far this year.

[homer]

Uggghhhh, they are looking to put advertising on team uniforms in 2020 and 2021 (which actually means from now until the end of time). Having the Nike logo was bad enough, but I would have made an exception if they would have placed it in the butt crack. Can't wait for the days when uniforms look like stock cars, which will probably be much sooner than people expect. Why not just get it over with an get rid of the Brewer name and just be the Milwaukee AmFam's (until the contract runs out of course)?

 

What's the big deal? This has been going on for years:

[SeaBass]

Jumping in late to give the owners/commish credit for stepping up and making a real effort at labor peace, at least for the immediate future. Better late than never. It was done in such a way that the players will need to be careful and intelligent with a counter offer so as not to ruin the momentum, and I have faith they will be. Optimism! What a weird but welcome feeling! Who knew?

 

Love that the DH is being implemented. Really looking forward to the NL not being looked at as the lesser league in the future. Now hopefully the Brewers survive whatever realignment high jinks that may ensue, Cubs and Cardinals need to remain division rivals.

[RightFieldCoder]

Yes. DH to the NL. Make sure the Brewers and other small market teams have a harder time being competitive.

[SeaBass]

I must have missed when the Brewers were having an easy time being competitive. What's the DH going to add, a .01% extra difficulty?

[homer]

What are the substitution rules for the DH? It's been a while since I had to think about it

 

If you start a game as a DH do you have to finish as a DH? Can you start in the field and become a DH in the same game? Vice versa?

[SeaBass]

As I recall, if a DH goes in to play the field that team loses the DH for the remainder of the game.

 

Edit: No, an established fielder can't become the DH during that game. Once the DH spot is set in the lineup it doesn't move. If the DH bats 6th, that's the DH spot in the lineup for the remainder of that game unless the DH is forfeited.

[JosephC]

DH is definitely bad for small market teams. Must be a lot of young people on this board who forget that that the "no DH" factor was the Brewer's primary reason for jumping to the NL.

 

Brewer fans will love it today because they can stick Braun in there. But next year when the Brewers don't have an ideal candidate and...lets say the Cubs spend 16 million to put a DH masher in their lineup....then Brewer fans won't like the DH so much anymore. That said, I wouldn't argue if someone pointed out that Hiura's defense will be so bad that he'll be an idea DH candidate no later than 2022. That is a certainly a possibility.

[brewerfan82]

As I recall, if a DH goes in to play the field that team loses the DH for the remainder of the game.

 

Edit: No, an established fielder can't become the DH during that game. Once the DH spot is set in the lineup it doesn't move. If the DH bats 6th, that's the DH spot in the lineup for the remainder of that game unless the DH is forfeited.

So if you have this lineup (don't dwell on the order, lol):

 

3B Holt*, CF Cain, LF Yelich*, 2B Hiura, DH Braun, 1B Smoak^, RF Garcia, C Narvaez*, SS Urias

 

...and Braun moves to 1B during the game, then Smoak is out of the game and the lineup is only 8 players long for the rest of the game? Or does the pitcher then bat in Smoak's spot?

[monty57]

DH is definitely bad for small market teams. Must be a lot of young people on this board who forget that that the "no DH" factor was the Brewer's primary reason for jumping to the NL.

 

Brewer fans will love it today because they can stick Braun in there. But next year when the Brewers don't have an ideal candidate and...lets say the Cubs spend 16 million to put a DH masher in their lineup....then Brewer fans won't like the DH so much anymore. That said, I wouldn't argue if someone pointed out that Hiura's defense will be so bad that he'll be an idea DH candidate no later than 2022. That is a certainly a possibility.

 

I thought Selig wanted expansion, and doing so meant that one AL team would have to go to the NL. "No DH" may have been his battle cry, but I figured it was that someone needed to make the move, so he volunteered the Brewers. He may not have been a competitive owner, but he knew how to play politics and get the public to believe what he was selling. Must be the used car dealer in him.

[SeaBass]

As I recall, if a DH goes in to play the field that team loses the DH for the remainder of the game.

 

Edit: No, an established fielder can't become the DH during that game. Once the DH spot is set in the lineup it doesn't move. If the DH bats 6th, that's the DH spot in the lineup for the remainder of that game unless the DH is forfeited.

So if you have this lineup (don't dwell on the order, lol):

 

3B Holt*, CF Cain, LF Yelich*, 2B Hiura, DH Braun, 1B Smoak^, RF Garcia, C Narvaez*, SS Urias

 

...and Braun moves to 1B during the game, then Smoak is out of the game and the lineup is only 8 players long for the rest of the game? Or does the pitcher then bat in Smoak's spot?

Correct, the pitcher bats for the remainder of the game, in Smoak's spot. Further subbing can ensue normally once that occurs, it'll be like NL rules once the pitcher is expected to bat.

 

Edit: Actually, I'm not as sure about if the pitcher would bat in Smoak's spot because technically the DH spot is the pitcher's spot in the line up. It might require a pitching change and then the new pitcher could be inserted into Smoak's spot and then bat for himself.

[SeaBass]

DH is definitely bad for small market teams. Must be a lot of young people on this board who forget that that the "no DH" factor was the Brewer's primary reason for jumping to the NL.

 

Brewer fans will love it today because they can stick Braun in there. But next year when the Brewers don't have an ideal candidate and...lets say the Cubs spend 16 million to put a DH masher in their lineup....then Brewer fans won't like the DH so much anymore. That said, I wouldn't argue if someone pointed out that Hiura's defense will be so bad that he'll be an idea DH candidate no later than 2022. That is a certainly a possibility.

 

I thought Selig wanted expansion, and doing so meant that one AL team would have to go to the NL. "No DH" may have been his battle cry, but I figured it was that someone needed to make the move, so he volunteered the Brewers. He may not have been a competitive owner, but he knew how to play politics and get the public to believe what he was selling. Must be the used car dealer in him.

I don't remember the DH really being a factor in the move (that doesn't mean it wasn't, just that I don't remember), at the time the NL Central was looked at as a weaker division than the AL Central was and by that reasoning it was being pushed to Brewers fans as a good move to be more competitive. A shortsighted argument as it turns out.

[nate82]

DH is definitely bad for small market teams. Must be a lot of young people on this board who forget that that the "no DH" factor was the Brewer's primary reason for jumping to the NL.

 

Brewer fans will love it today because they can stick Braun in there. But next year when the Brewers don't have an ideal candidate and...lets say the Cubs spend 16 million to put a DH masher in their lineup....then Brewer fans won't like the DH so much anymore. That said, I wouldn't argue if someone pointed out that Hiura's defense will be so bad that he'll be an idea DH candidate no later than 2022. That is a certainly a possibility.

 

Hiura is a definite candidate for the DH next year. Plus there are about a billion options in FA that you can get rather cheaply to play DH. Finding someone to play as the DH for the Brewers would not be all that difficult.