NEWSLETTER
While we can discuss the economics of trying to play an MLB season or partial MLB season for TV, only, other leagues around the world are on their way. That, and more of the latest from around the world of sports and COVID-19.
Baseball in Asia
There will be baseball in South Korea – a nation hit initially by the novel coronavirus on the same day as the United States – starting tomorrow. After exhibition games begin this week, the KBO could start its regular season on May 1. Among the safety protocols in place for the preseason:
“Players must have their temperature checked twice before games and fill out daily health questionnaires on a KBO app specifically built for this purpose. They’ll be “strongly recommended” to wear masks in the clubhouse and in all areas of the stadium during games, except for the field and the dugout.
High-fives and handshakes with bare hands will be discouraged, and spitting will be “strictly prohibited.”
All umpires must wear masks and plastic gloves, and they will be banned from making any physical contact with players. Front office employees, trainers and interpreters who travel with teams, bat boys and girls and video replay officials will also be required to don masks and gloves.
If a player shows symptoms of COVID-19 during the preseason or regular season, the player will be immediately quarantined, and the stadium where his team last played will be closed for at least two days.”
From there, whether additional quarantining is necessary will depend on the results of a test, and a government-appointed epidemiologist conducting contact tracing.
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While baseball continues apace in Taiwan, the league is getting very interested in expanding as much of its international streaming ability as possible:
https://twitter.com/GOCPBL/status/1252212429133508608
Hey, gotta get yourself out there while you can. If you’re the only baseball being played, then you might as well get some eyeballs. I have enjoyed seeing random highlights on my timeline on Twitter.
Speaking of which, if you wind up watching an KBO action once that league gets under way, Dan Kurtz offers something to keep in mind:
PSA to new KBO fans: The caliber of play in KBO is not at MLB's level. For that very reason, it's what makes the KBO the KBO. You never know what's gonna happen next; from an incredible catch to viral bloopers, I call it 'KBOness'.
Here's KBOness from `18pic.twitter.com/JXBtnTxT65
— Dan Kurtz (@MyKBO) April 14, 2020
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In Japan, where the NPB had previously planned to start their season a while ago before a few players tested positive for COVID-19, which shut things down and then their country subsequently added more social distancing restrictions.
While they were still hoping to start the season sometime soon-ish, they’ve now announced no baseball through at least May:
No beginning in sight for Japan's baseball season https://t.co/XZ0qSyAcUZ via @HardballTalk
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) April 20, 2020
Moreover, if and when baseball gets underway, the NPB has cancelled interleague games for the entire season because of the involved travel. It’s not quite an “Arizona Plan” situation, but you see how leagues are having to be proactive and plan way ahead – making significant changes – if they’re going to pull a season off.
Major League Baseball
The stateside update this weekend from MLB is no update:
Commissioner Rob Manfred spoke for one hour this morning with major-league managers. Offered no specifics on how season might begin.
One manager: “Nothing concrete.”
Another: “Very vague.”
A third: “It was mostly a forum to allow guys to ask questions.”
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) April 17, 2020
Teams are entering the period of time where they will start making decisions about non-player employees, as we discussed earlier today, with a number of teams proactively announcing no cuts at least through May:
Another team that has committed to paying baseball-operations employees through May 31: The Boston Red Sox, per sources.
Some teams continue to have concerns about cash flow. An option: to furlough employees with lower salaries who could be made whole via unemployment benefits.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 20, 2020
I presume the May cutoff is, right now, being put in place in case teams develop a better sense over the next month about where the sport will be in June, July, August, etc. Right now, nobody knows anything.
Speaking of which, Peter Gammons writes about the reshaping that could hit MLB and MiLB over the next few years in light of what may happen this season.
Among his many thoughts:
“Given the economy and the realization that such a situation may be repeated in less time than the 102 years between the influenza and the coronavirus pandemics, what major-market areas are going to fund baseball stadiums the way the Braves and Yankees were handed gold mines? Now, Peter Magowan completely changed the San Francisco baseball market (remember when the other owners wanted the Giants to move to St. Petersburg?) without public funding. The plans for a new A’s park in Oakland presently calls for no public funding, but even those involved in that situation don’t think private lending is going to be available to fund a baseball stadium. Tampa? Let’s see where that area’s economy is a year from now.
If Florida is severely damaged for two or three years due to the coronavirus spread, can baseball continue to exist in that state? Can Cleveland continue to maintain major league baseball in a northern Rust Belt state? The club has one of the smartest and most creative managements in sports, but the city has seen a 58 percent decline in population since the team last won a World Series. Austin, Charlotte, Nashville and Portland all have more residents now.
So, in a different country, does MLB rethink contraction? Personally, I felt ill when I heard someone who has known the Orioles ownership inside and out for more than 30 years say this spring, ‘I am very worried about the Orioles’ future five or 10 years from now.'”
I think you can frame and discuss these issues – much like with minor league baseball – in a way that is not alarmist, because the world very well MIGHT look so different next year and the next year that what we thought was always going to be true about Major League Baseball will no longer hold. Do I think it’s likely that we’ll see current MLB franchises flat out fold because of the pandemic and its aftereffects? I do not. Do I think it’s possible? Sure. Do I think it’s possible it could hasten the relocation of teams like the Rays or A’s? Absolutely.
