By Mike Steffanos February 1, 2021
I'm still working through some health issues, but I thought I'd check back in on some of the Mets- and baseball-related topics. I'll stay away from Trevor Bauer for now, as I've already said my piece on the guy. If the Mets sign him, I'll root for it all to turn out well. If they don't — well, if you read my other piece, you can probably guess that I won't be heartbroken. Either way, I've learned a long time ago not to live or die based on decisions that the team you root for makes. You only hope that they operate in a way that makes sense, and only time will tell on this current Mets brain trust. The one thing that I do feel strongly about is that hope this Bauer pursuit comes to an end one way or the other very soon, because a) it's been going on for too freaking long and b) I think it's holding up the other personnel moves the Mets need to make before the season starts.
As for when the season starts, that still seems to be up in the air. As you've probably heard by now, MLB has made a proposal to the Players Association for a 154-game season that will start a month late. The players will be paid their full pay, and they would agree to expanded playoffs, which is a huge moneymaker for the teams. This is a significant step forward from the spring, when MLB essentially made a series of offers that had virtually no chance of being accepted. Unfortunately, one holdover from the spring was MLB leaking their offer to the press at the same time that it was presented to the union. In any case, the players don't feel there are the right economic guarantees in place to ensure that Rob Manfred won't at some point unilaterally make changes to the schedule.
One thing that I believe warrants being paid some attention to here is the concerns of major league pitchers for their health. They're gearing up right now to come into camp at the usual time. Waiting another month and then ramping up again is a concern. At least under this proposal the length of spring training would be relatively normal, with camps opening March 22 and the season starting April 28. The one difference would be the pitchers and catchers not starting a week before the position players as they do normally. It wouldn't be quite the accelerated ramp-up that the short summer training camps proved to be this past season, but it does take the pitchers out of their routine for a second season in a row.
As it stands right now, there doesn't seem to be too much likelihood of the players accepting this offer, and the most probable scenario continues to be training camps opening on time later this month. It remains to be seen if the two sides will even enter into real negotiations with each other or just continue to take jabs at each other in the press.
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