A look at what MLB might propose for the 2020 season and how it impacts the Marlins
There’s movement on the Major League Baseball front.
According to multiple reports from ESPN and The Athletic, among others, the league is expected to send a proposal to the MLB Players Union on Tuesday outlining plans for how to potentially play the 2020 season. The league held a conference call with MLB owners Monday.
Nothing in this is set in stone and contingencies will have to be in place, as is the case with just about everything during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But this will mark the first written proposal about how to move forward after nearly two months of discussions, meetings and chatter about what might be when MLB resumes after first being shut down on March 12.
Here’s a closer look at what could be in store and how it might impact the Miami Marlins.
Proposed season format
While there have been a slew of options that have leaked out — the main three being clumping everyone in Arizona, playing in hubs, and using spring training sites — the latest idea has everyone playing in their own ballpark but with a truncated and geographically regionalized schedule.
The Associated Press reported Monday the league is targeting the Fourth of July weekend as a starting point for the season, while the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported over the weekend that the schedule would likely be about 80 games with teams only playing against their own division and the five teams from the opposite league in the same region.
For the Marlins, that would mean playing their usual four National League East opponents (the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals) as well as the five teams from the American League East (the Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays).
Teams that aren’t able to play in their city “temporarily would relocate, either to their spring training sites or major-league parks in other parts of the country,” Rosenthal reported.
Universal DH?
The Athletic’s Jim Bowden reported late Sunday night that among the proposals the league will be submitting includes the use of a universal designated hitter for the 2020 season.
This would allow the Marlins to tinker with different portions of their lineup and would remedy some tough roster decisions they were going to have to make back in spring training.
Should Jesus Aguilar be the team’s full-time starting first baseman (which was the case when spring training stopped), Garrett Cooper would be a natural fit for the DH spot on a regular basis.
With the expectation that rosters would be expanded during this shortened season because the minor-league season is unlikely to happen at this point, top prospects that the Marlins are likely to add to their roster (think outfielders Monte Harrison and Jesus Sanchez, first baseman Lewin Diaz and shortstop Jazz Chisholm) could also get DH reps while getting spot starts at their positions.
AP reported rosters could expand from 26 to 30 with the possibility of clubs having about 20 players in a practice squad-esque situation.
Increased playoff spots
Each league would get seven teams into the postseason instead of five, according to Rosenthal. In this scenario, the division winner with the best record gets a bye for the first round. The remaining two division champions and the top wild-card team would face the remaining three wild-card teams in a best-of-3 series.
The players’ desires
Players who are part of the MLBPA’s executive board aren’t ruling any options out before they are presented with a proposal — “No idea is a bad idea right now,” Marlins shortstop and player rep Miguel Rojas told the Miami Herald last month — but safety precautions are a priority.
The general consensus, rightfully, is that health comes first. Compensation, understandably, is the next biggest issue, according to ESPN.
The plan is to keep an open mind about whatever scenarios might be presented and then start making decisions and counter proposals once an actual offer is on the table.
Shortened MLB draft
MLB is also expected to drastically reduced the 2020 draft, lowering it from the usual 40-round process to just five rounds this June. Undrafted players would be allowed to receive a maximum signing bonus of just $20,000 compared to the usual $125,000.
Based on the initial agreement between MLB and the MLBPA, draft picks would get only $100,000 of their bonus in 2020. Half of the remaining money they are owed would be due on July 1, 2021. The rest will be paid by July 1, 2022.
The Marlins are still relying on the draft to build organizational depth as they maneuver through their rebuild under the Bruce Sherman and Derek Jeter ownership group. Trades helped them get a group of top prospects who are either already on the big-league club or are on the cusp, but the home-grown players they are developing from the start are pivotal to making or breaking this team’s future.
Of the Marlins’ top 30 prospects according to MLBPipeline, 13 were either drafted in the past two season or signed as international free agents. That includes four international free agents in outfielder Victor Victor Mesa, outfielder Victor Mesa Jr., infielder Jose Salas and pitcher Breidy Encarnacion and one player drafted later than the fifth round in pitcher Alex Vesia (17th round in 2018).
Marlins trying to stay ready
Marlins manager Don Mattingly said in an interview with Fox Sports Florida’s Jessica Blaylock that he’s touching base with players about once every two weeks, but the uncertainty in when the season will begin has made it tough for players to properly prepare.
“Guys don’t quite know what to do,” Mattingly said. “... You can only turn that gear on to a high level and keep it there for so long. They were amping up in spring training to a point where it was getting close to the season and they were trying to get ready and turn that notch up. Then, you’ve got to shut that off because you can’t keep amping and amping not knowing what kind of timeframe it’s going to be. You can’t be doing that for two months. Just trying to maintain something.”
This story was originally published May 11, 2020 at 11:10 AM.
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