Reese Kaplan -- 2020 Is Not Normal Baseball Preparation

As the camps open up and extensive testing is finally done, more and more stories are coming forth about players who have caught the COVID-19 virus or who fear bringing it back to their families.  This past weekend two huge names were in the headlines with the Braves’ Freddie Freeman tested positive and perhaps the biggest name in the game, Mike Trout, was quite vocal about perhaps skipping the entire season in order to give the safest environment possible to his wife who is expected to give birth in August. Later this weekend David Price said he was taking a pass on the season. Ditto Felix Hernandez. Then Luis Cessa, Salvador Perez and D.J. LeMahieu have all tested positive. We heard about Mets batting coach Chili Davis was sitting out the season and now word comes down the Braves' Eric Young, Sr. is also skipping 2020.

Many people are talking about the season not containing qualifiers or asterisks for performance achievements, but if someone wins a Cy Young Award and doesn’t have to face players of this caliber (to go along with Ian Desmond, Ryan Zimmerman and others already opting out), what will it really mean?  Yes, that person can feel the pride of the accomplishment and likely can leverage it for some extra increase in salary next year, but will fans and fellow players give this award winner the same respect and accolades as Jacob deGrom earned the past two seasons? The same applies for hitters facing the Price substitute the Dodgers will trot out in his place.

The HIPAA regulations protect the privacy of the ballplayers who have tested positive, but it’s going to become public knowledge when you find your planned starting shortstop or regular starting pitcher or key reliever all of the sudden isn’t playing and they’re creating a separate COVID-19 injury list.  You’ll know soon enough who has been affected by the virus when someone is missing with an unspecified "injury" or "illness."

That is why the plan for the 30-man taxi squad and the elimination of the minor leagues wasn’t just about saving money from not having to put together regular minor leagues squads and games.  It was the practicality of having readily available replacement players when needed due to illness, injury, opting out or simply from poor performance from the initial choices on the roster.  That’s also why many teams are opting to fill that extra squad with proven if not top notch major leaguers rather than rushing their younger prospects through the system which could expose them to more qualified opposition AND, more importantly, start their service clocks prematurely.  

For the NY Mets, it’s an interesting situation in which they find themselves with players on expiring contracts, others recovering from injury, at least one with COVID-19 (plus five minor leaguers), young players looking to make a name for themselves, and retread veterans who at least in theory were acquired to fill the taxi squad.  How Luis Rojas goes about shuffling these players around and how much he values offense over defense (or vice versa) is yet to be seen.

It would seem that the club should be looking long and hard at catching options as Wilson Ramos’ deal has an option for a third year or a buyout.  Thus far the players near the former AAA team were not all that impressive and again we need to know whether the new Jeremy Hefner lead staff will value defense more than offense (or vice versa).  There’s no two ways about it, as good a hitter as Wilson Ramos is, he’s not Gold Glove nor killer arm material.  Some of the pitchers have been quite vocal about his shortcomings and it may be something the new regime thinks twice about when they try to figure out how to come up with payroll dollars for 2021.

Three more weeks of baseball anticipation before the 2020 season (such as it is) becomes a reality.  Many of us had already given up on the sport for this year while others are chomping at the bit to see games played once again.  My prediction is for TV ratings through the roof when the first official games begin in late July.  Here’s hoping for the owners some of the lost revenue can be regained through inflated advertising rates.