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.

More from Cubbies Crib

• Cubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North Side
• Make no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hitters
• Cubs are giving pitcher Javier Assad a deserved shot
• Cubs: It’s time to start thinking about potential September call-ups
• Cubs: P.J. Higgins deserves to be in the lineup on a daily basis

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.