2019-2020 Offseason Discussion

[Nick]

We've gone from 80 to 114 to 50 in about a day.

[Namaste]

I know the idea was only floated, but I think a 50 game season is a worse idea than no season. If they can’t play half of a season, just scrap it.

[tjfla]

Something I mentioned a few weeks ago about the minors will likely happen

There may not be any minor league season in 2020, but that could be made up for to an extent with an extended Arizona Fall League campaign. The AFL season usually runs from September to October, but a 2020 version could begin “within weeks” of a potential Opening Day in the majors, Josh Norris and J.J. Cooper of Baseball America report. The MLB and MLBPA would first have to agree to a season, and Norris and Cooper highlight other roadblocks (including financial issues). But if a longer AFL season does come to fruition, all 30 teams would send a roster of prospects to their spring training sites to play games. It’s possible each of those clubs would also have “a second lower level” prospect team, Norris and Cooper write.

Would be a AFL and FFL. 2 AFL and FFL teams per club with 1 being upper level guys and other team being lower level

[Lee Stone]

The MLB and MLBPA would first have to agree to a season ...

I'm not clear on how the MLBPA and MLB agreement has anything to do with the Arizona Fall League or minors in general. Minor Leaguers are not members of the MLBPA.

[rmc523]

I know the idea was only floated, but I think a 50 game season is a worse idea than no season. If they can’t play half of a season, just scrap it.

I'm actually with you on this. 50 is ridiculous.

The MLB and MLBPA would first have to agree to a season ...

I'm not clear on how the MLBPA and MLB agreement has anything to do with the Arizona Fall League or minors in general. Minor Leaguers are not members of the MLBPA.

Well, any sort of regular season affects players in the minors for things like being called up and rosters.

We've gone from 80 to 114 to 50 in about a day.

Yeah, stupid.


Play 114, Prorate 81 games' pay (half a normal season) now and defer the remaining 34 games over the next 2-3 seasons (pick a timeframe).

Both sides get what they want:
-Players get paid for a full 114 games, just over this year and the next few years
-Owners get increased financial flexibility now until things return to normal and 114 games of of tv viewership/interest in the team.
-Most importantly, BOTH sides get baseball back, and generate interest/viewership in the sport

[Lee Stone]

I don't view it as stupid that owners are trying to work through a sad, unique, and financially risky situation to the best of their ability. Perhaps it should be remembered that major leaguers enjoy their enormous contracts only because the "cheap and selfish" owners signed them.

[emkayseven]

Seems to me the owners are saying 50 games is what they have money for. Their proposal should be:

We have X dollars
You guys decide how many games, 50 or more, you want to spread that across

Plain and simple.

[sports24/7]

50 games is pretty ridiculous, and they should be able to figure out at least half of a season's worth of games. But some baseball is still better than no baseball.

[fish16]

to me from the marlins perspective the smaller the amount of games the season ends up being makes me much more likely to keep the prospects in the minors and just try to develop guys as much as possible using our resources that we will be able to use in the minors and save the service times for future years. idk if they will also prorate the service time of guys to reduce the number of days on the big league roster to constitute a service year but id much rather have guys like jazz, sixto, cabrera, for full years 6-7 years from now in their prime rather than play them in this weird, disjointed, in all likelihood fucked up significantly shortened year where they will not get significant seasoning to make it worth it. id be planning some sort of safe way to best develop guys in this fucked up season without wasting their service time this year.

that obviously sucks because we all want to see some of these guys and a few of them would definitely be able to make a major league impact but big picture has to be the focus and you gotta think about getting another year of full service time in a potentially prime year rather than wasting a year of team control in this lost year where we arent at all likely to contend regardless. I dont like that the rules benefit teams to keep guys down as long as possible but we have to play within the rules to me and the best thing to do from a long term standpoint is to just trot vets out there for a few months and then roll it back next year. id take the training wheels off next year though for guys like sixto, jazz, monte, lewin, neidert, etc. and just start going with the best possible roster than taking service time into consideration (for everyone except bleday, he's worth the 2 month til june/july 2021 or so wait to get the extra year down the line)

[rmc523]

Yeah, i agree with you there regarding service time stuff.

[tjfla]

to me from the marlins perspective the smaller the amount of games the season ends up being makes me much more likely to keep the prospects in the minors and just try to develop guys as much as possible using our resources that we will be able to use in the minors and save the service times for future years. idk if they will also prorate the service time of guys to reduce the number of days on the big league roster to constitute a service year but id much rather have guys like jazz, sixto, cabrera, for full years 6-7 years from now in their prime rather than play them in this weird, disjointed, in all likelihood fucked up significantly shortened year where they will not get significant seasoning to make it worth it. id be planning some sort of safe way to best develop guys in this fucked up season without wasting their service time this year.

that obviously sucks because we all want to see some of these guys and a few of them would definitely be able to make a major league impact but big picture has to be the focus and you gotta think about getting another year of full service time in a potentially prime year rather than wasting a year of team control in this lost year where we arent at all likely to contend regardless. I dont like that the rules benefit teams to keep guys down as long as possible but we have to play within the rules to me and the best thing to do from a long term standpoint is to just trot vets out there for a few months and then roll it back next year. id take the training wheels off next year though for guys like sixto, jazz, monte, lewin, neidert, etc. and just start going with the best possible roster than taking service time into consideration (for everyone except bleday, he's worth the 2 month til june/july 2021 or so wait to get the extra year down the line)

This is what Miami is thinking. They thought 2020 was the last crappy season for them in awhile anyways. If its 82 games or LESS against pretty much just NL/AL East teams I could see us just saying screw it-play the vets,get thru the season and get ready for 2021. The Top 3 Pick and 4 or 5 of the Top 75 Picks in the deepest draft ever doesnt hurt either.

[tjfla]

Pittsburgh is going for that #1 Pick in 2021. Archer just had Outlet Surgery

[Lee Stone]

Pittsburgh is going for that #1 Pick in 2021. Archer just had Outlet Surgery.

Losing Archer's 1.41 WHIP and 5.19 ERA from last season is supposed to hurt Pittsburgh? He won a total of six games over the last two seasons. Tampa Bay brilliance: Turning a rapidly declining Archer into a great right fielder (Meadows), outstanding starter (Glasnow) and top 100 prospect (Baz) ... all earning minimum wage.

[fish16]

lookng more and more like no season. i really highly doubt they end up doing something like 50 games.

[rmc523]

Manfred is a moron.

The league (unsurprisingly) turned down the union's 114-game/full prorated salary proposal. But they're not even going to counter that proposal, and seem determined to implement this absurd 50 game season.

They're just idiots squandering what'd be a great opportunity to generate interest in the sport.