MLB: New Deal Would Add Designated Hitter to the National League

Baseball purists, you’re going to want to look away. Fans of keeping the designated hitter out of the National League are going to be very disappointed in the MLB. 

MLB and the player’s association have gone back and forth for weeks trying to agree to the terms of starting up a 2020 season. MLBPA had insisted last week that negotiations were at an end, and asked the league when they should show up to play their 50 or so games. 

Rob Manfred rocked the baseball world just a few days later when he revealed that he was not 100 percent sure there would even be an MLB season. This morning, a report was released that Manfred had met with the head of the MLBPA Tony Clark in Arizona to have a conversation that turned out very productive. 

Reports then surfaced that MLB and the player’s union were closing in on a deal to get things moving, which was later refuted. The league has sent over a proposal to the union, but that has yet to officially be agreed on or denied at this point. In that agreement though, there was one interesting change to play.

The designated hitter has long been held strictly to the American League and AL home games. That might be changing, as the new agreement would make the DH universal for 2020 and 2021. If that’s the case, it’s likely that the DH will be universal in the next collective bargaining agreement as well. 

So say goodbye to pitchers hitting on a daily basis, because it looks like DH’s are going to reign over MLB. Dodgers fans, in particular, might be sad knowing this, as getting to see pitchers hit has certainly been part of the entertainment. But if any team in the NL is already equipped for this rule change, it’s certainly Los Angeles. 

MLB News: Commissioner Losing Confidence in a 2020 Season