MLB News: Rob Manfred Tells Teams to Prepare to Play All 162 Games
The uncertainty of the 2021 MLB season has led to a historically slow free-agent market this offseason. With teams unsure of what the plan is for the number of games played and the revenue, most have been unwilling to take a gamble and spend.
The good news is that today, we got the best news on the MLB season in months. Commissioner Rob Manfred spoke with teams on a conference call on Monday afternoon and advised that Spring Training should start on time, per USA Today.
In that same conference call, Manfred advised that teams should plan for a full 162-game season as well. MLB previously had plans to delay the start of the season and to likely cut down the number of games played. All of that just to allow time for fans to receive the COVID-19 vaccination, thus allowing them to attend games. That appears to have been blocked by the Player’s Association on some level.
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With the 2020 season limited to 60 games, MLB players received just 37 percent of their pay for the year. The league is not allowed to delay the start of the season without the approval of the union. Clearly, they must have put their foot down on that issue.
There has not yet been an official announcement by MLB or anyone involved in leadership. Sources on the matter spoke anonymously as they were apparently not authorized to release the information on the 162-game plan. Stay tuned…
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“MLB News: Rob Manfred Tells Teams to Prepare to Play All 162 Games” – AND if you believe that….
Ok, but why doesn’t Manfred also do the right thing and keep the DH universal. This should have been decided by now for 2021 and he must be crazy if he feels it’s going to be safer for pitchers to have to bat again after not doing so for a year now. With the other protocols that will be in place because Covid 19 won’t be going away anytime soon and pitchers of all people will still need to be safe guarded from any possible risks of injury. Again, I am not so thrilled about a sport that has to have separate playing rules for the 2 leagues in the MLB.
There is no chance that games will be played in April. And very little chance that games will be played in May. Flip a coin on June. Manfred is just giving lip service to his master’s at the players union. He’s their lap dog. That’s the only reason the DH was used in the NL last year. It’s the only reason As to players went unpunished for cheating. Get a new commissioner with a backbone who doesn’t grovel at the feet of the players union.
MLB just can’t get it together. Basketball without hesitation began their 2020/2021 season that should make MLB ashamed considering the state of the NBA