Chicago Cubs: MLB, players’ union reportedly close to an agreement

Chicago Cubs: More issues to consider

Many fans like doubleheaders – rare as they are these days – so this would be good for the league. However, I hope the league doesn’t shorten these games to seven innings, as some people have discussed, as it would fundamentally change the game. Expanding the rosters, which has also been considered, could help with player fatigue.

One detail I haven’t seen discussed anywhere is whether these would be day-night doubleheaders or double admission doubleheaders. As a fan, I’d love to see the second admission ones, just like old days, but given how the league is already losing tons of revenue, the guess here is that they will be day-night ones.

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I’m not sure how I feel about the season going through November. I’d like it because it would mean more baseball to follow, yet it would shorten the offseason and mess with routines, which could impact the 2021 season as well. And as the season goes deeper into the fall, MLB would also be competing more with pro and college football for fans’ attention.

Then there’s the cold weather situation. Should a team like the Cubs make a deep playoff run (which we’re all hoping for), the games would almost have to be moved to a neutral site further south, as the threat of winter weather in late November is too significant. Watching the Cubs play in the World Series in, say, Marlins Park, great as it would be, just wouldn’t be the same.

Precisely what the schedule would look like still is to be determined. It would be nice if all the teams within each division could still play a similar schedule like they usually do, but that would involve drawing up a whole new schedule, with lots of logistics involved.

It seems more likely that the league will simply pick up the schedule where they left off, perhaps adding some more games via doubleheaders. It’s not ideal, but it might be the best we can hope for.

Chicago Cubs: Even more issues to consider

In addition to all this, one of the most significant problems throughout this situation has been service time. Thankfully, according to USA Today, both sides have agreed that a season of any length would count as a full season of service time. Given how contentious the Kris Bryant situation was this past winter, this is probably for the best.

For us to have anything close to a full season, we’d have to get going by June, and given the state the country is in right now, that’s far from a certainty. We still have to factor in spring training, which would be necessary. Again, the teams could train and play exhibition games in their home stadiums instead of what would likely be a hot and uncomfortable climate in Florida and Arizona in May and June.

This could be a good thing; it would allow fans to witness preseason games in their home cities. That is, if fans are allowed back into the stands, and as of right now, it’s unclear whether they will be permitted if/when play resumes. Though the health and safety of fans is the most important thing, I hope fans can return to the stands soon, as baseball just isn’t the same without them.

In any case, hopefully, an agreement will be officially announced soon. Though it may be too early to have a precise plan, since it’s too early to say when play will resume, it would be nice to know that the two sides can at least agree on some ideas for how to proceed once we get going again. It’s good to see some progress being made; it’s a sign that, indeed, our beloved game will someday come back again.