MLB owners and executives want to delay the start of the 2021 baseball season until May, according to a report from USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale.
The report said owners want players to be vaccinated before coming to spring training, and given the spot in line most baseball players land in terms of getting the vaccine, that could mean the season starting a couple months late. The owners would then be okay with the season being shortened to 140 games or less. The MLB Players Association feels differently, though:
The Major League Baseball Players Association, believing it proved a year ago that teams can safely adapt to protocols, wants the season to start on time, playing all 162 games with full pay.
Furthermore, Nightengale cited in the report a National League executive who didn’t think there was a “snowball’s chance in hell” that the season would start on time in 2021:
“I don’t see a snowball’s chance in hell that spring training can start with protocols in place… I think there will be significant pressure for players to get the vaccine first before they go to spring training, and if that has to be moved back to April and play 130 games, so be it. … But to have 162 games, and start spring training at the normal time without players being vaccinated, that’s just crazy. … Does Arizona and Florida, with their cases spiking, really want teams with about 125 people in each organization coming to town without vaccines?’’
Mets pitchers and catchers are set to report to spring training February 17–64 days from today.
Based on the 2020 season and how long it took for it to get underway after the initial shutdown, there is little confidence the owners and Players Association can come to an even-keeled, quick resolution on this. They took months to come to a semi-clear resolution on the designated hitter role in the National League for the 2021 season, with commissioner Rob Manfred recently sending a memo to teams to not expect a universal DH this year, and this is an issue that has minimal impact when compared to COVID-19.
Players clearly don’t want to go through another season with prorated salaries, which would be necessary if the season is shortened to less than 162 games. But unfortunately how many games are played are largely out of their hands, which will make matters more difficult. And as the report points out, 2021 is the final year of MLB’s collective bargaining agreement with the players.
There’s also the issue even if the season does start on time, will teams allow fans into stadiums? Will unvaccinated fans be allowed in? Will temperatures and testing be necessary to allow fans to come into stadiums throughout the season?
Only time will tell with these questions and many more, and who knows if we’ll ever get clear answers as the process goes along.
