MLB was thrown a curveball when the coronavirus forced the professional baseball league to call off the 2020 season just ahead of its big Opening Day this past March. Since then, team owners and players have been caught up in a virtual tennis match to get the season restarted, lobbing plans back and forth that neither side wants to approve. While they continue to battle it out, potentially closing in on an amicable, acceptable plan, the MLB Draft is taking place. However, it isn’t anywhere close to where it should have been and only five rounds – out of the normal 40 – are being held. Next season, only 20 rounds will be held.
The reduction in rounds means that a lot of aspiring professional baseball players won’t get their chance anytime soon. It’s safe to say that even those who have been selected may not get their chance if team owners and players can’t reach an agreement. This means that players like third baseman Spencer Torkelson out of Arizona State and outfielder Heston Kjerstad out of Arkansas can only wait around to see what happens. Torkelson was picked up as the first pick in the draft and is going to the Detroit Tigers, while Kjerstad, who wasn’t a top favorite for the draft, is on his way to the Baltimore Orioles. Shortstop Austin Martin from Vanderbilt had been highly considered to be the second pick in the draft, but ended up going to the Toronto Blue Jays as the fifth selection.
Now, the new selections and existing players can only wait to see what happens next. There exists a possibility that a deal to resume games could be reached before the end of this weekend, but anything is possible. According to Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports and his own Live on The Herd radio broadcast, “I was told last night by a source that I trust inside baseball that they’re close. My prediction is that the MLS will start July 8th, and that baseball will start July 10th. I’m going to make a prediction that in 48 hours – this is from a source up the ladder – that we will have a resolution and be on our way. I’m going all in on this, there will be around 75-80 games. The owners want to wrap up the regular season by September 27th, and they do not want to play in November. The owners have no interest, and are worried about a second wave of the virus. Frankly, they don’t want to play in crappy weather either… By 10:35 PT on Saturday, we will have a deal done.”
However, there is still a lot that needs to be done. Should the two sides fail to reach an agreement, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has the authority to establish how many games would be played to allow the 2020 season to run its course. If it comes to that, a number of players have already stated that they are prepared to boycott and will sit the season out. Even league executives aren’t entirely optimistic, with one telling USA TODAY Sports, “If we don’t get an agreement real soon, this is going to be ugly. Real ugly. And it’s just going to get worse.’’
