As the COVID-19 shutdown continues, neither the players nor the teams know when the regular season will start and how many games will be played in 2020. Major League Baseball has delayed the start of the season until at least May 9 -- in accordance with guidelines set by the Center of Disease Control and Prevention -- though discussions have been about starting the championship season in either June or possibly July.
Regardless of when it starts, players and teams want to make sure that once it is safe to play games, as many as possible are played.
"Players seem pretty willing to do whatever it's gonna take to get as many games in as possible," Jameson Taillon, the Pirates' player union representative, said in a conference call Monday afternoon. "... I've heard double-headers thrown around. I've heard some talk about expanded rosters. I've heard a lot of different thoughts.
"I've heard guys talking about how in our CBA [collective bargaining agreement] we're not supposed to play too many consecutive games in a row without an off-day. I think players are willing to visit just about anything."
Players and teams have explored multiple solutions to make that possible, including playing games in neutral sites or extending the season into October and the playoffs into November.
"We've been told there's just no bad ideas right now," Taillon said.
Last week, commissioner Rob Manfred said they are "probably not gonna be able to" play 162 games this season. The league and players union also ratified an agreement last week which guarantees service time and some player salary in 2020.
Both sides have incentive to get as many games in as possible. The players received a one-time lump sum of salary from the teams for this season as part of that agreement, ensuring everyone will make at least a portion of their contracts, even if the season is cancelled.
However, their season salaries will be prorated over how many games are played.
As for the teams, more games means more revenue from TV deals and the ticket gate, though the latter may not be guaranteed. Both sides have discussed the prospect of playing games in empty stadiums.
"It seems like both sides are willing to do it," Taillon said. "I don't think the goal would be to do that for an entire year. At some point, we would love to have fans in the stands, especially if we go to a playoff scenario."
One way to ensure the regular season starts as soon as safely possible is to make sure the second spring training is shorter than usual and extending the season further into the fall months. Both come with caveats, though.
While the season can be extended into October and the playoffs into November, players want to make sure they can have a semi-normal offseason. They also want to make sure they have enough time to get ready for 2020.
"We have to be extremely cognizant of player's health," Taillon said. "Even doing a second spring training build-up, we're going to have be careful with everyone going into this. Make sure we're communicating with the training staff and we're collaborative in our approach with not only Major League Baseball, but with out own teams and all of our specialists.
"I think the first thing would have be to get a schedule in place and get a season going to even worry about that."
Taillon said that second spring training would need to be about three weeks for the starting pitchers alone. That would give each pitcher about four starts. However, that could change depending on how long the shutdown lasts.
"I don't know if there's a specific number of weeks or days that we're going to need just yet, but the longer we get away from our original spring training, the longer the build up would have to be," Taillon said.
Teams will start next season with 29 man rosters, an increase from the planned 26. That would allow each team to carry more pitchers and lighten the starters' early season load.
"Having an expanded roster would be pretty important, in my eyes," Taillon said. "That way you can have guys listen to their bodies and not to be heroes and push too hard too quick."
Spring training was halted on Mar. 12, two weeks shy of the originally scheduled start to the regular season.
There has not been a decision made where the second spring training would take place. The main selling point of having spring training in Florida is it was warmer there in February and March. Weather won't be an issue in Pittsburgh when players take the practice field again, so it could happen at PNC Park.
"If Florida happens to be a hot spot at that point, I think it would take place in Pittsburgh, and vice-versa," Taillon said. "I think right now, we're open to either. I have been hearing a little bit more of Florida making more sense, just because there's more bullpen mounds, more fields to hit on."
• One of the major concessions the players gave in their agreement with the clubs was radically shortening the 2020 amateur draft from the traditional 40 rounds to five or 10. Draft selections will also have the vast majority of their bonuses deferred.
Taillon, a former first rounder, has thought about the future draft selections a lot recently.
"For me, it [being drafted] was such a dream situation and something I get to carry with me the rest of my life," Taillon said. "I hope kids throughout all of this get to live out their dreams."
• One of the major wins the players got in that deal was major-league players are guaranteed a year of service time, even if no games are played. In the event there is no 2020 season, players like Mookie Betts, Trevor Bauer and J.T. Realmuto would become free agents rather than be under team control for another season.
When the two sides worked on a deal, service time was the one thing players said was not negotiable.
"Service time was something that thought could set us back, as players, for not just this year, next year, not just for a couple years. We thought it was something could really set us back for the foreseeable future," Taillon said. "So we weren't really willing to come off of our stance there. With everything else, it was a pretty collaborative approach."
• MLB didn't give any word to the players union on the fate of minor-league players. All 30 clubs came together to ensure them a salary through the end of spring training, though there are no guarantees come Apr. 9.
MLB Players' union does not cover minor-leaguers who are not on the 40-man roster. While Taillon and Pirates players are concerned for them, they are in a tough spot.
"Legally, it's something we can't even do," Taillon said about the union potentially helping them.
• Though the season likely going deeper into the calendar year than usual, that doesn't mean Taillon may end up pitching this year, though he has discussed it with the Pirates medical staff.
“I’d be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it, but they shut me down pretty quickly,” Taillon said.
The medical staff wants to make sure Taillon has a normal offseason throwing program to prepare for the 2021 season.
Taillon underwent Tommy John surgery in August of last year. It was his second such procedure of his career, and Tommy John revisions take 16-18 months to recover, according to Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk.
Taillon said he has had to compromise his rehab program a little bit, especially in the weight room, but he is still on his throwing schedule. Last week he started throwing from 120 feet.
• If the playoffs go into November, there is a very good chance the World Series would need to be moved to a neutral, warm weather spot like Miami or Los Angeles. If that happens and is well received, MLB could theoretically follow the NFL's lead and always have a host city for the World Series.
Taillon doesn't care for that idea.
"If the Pirates made a World Series and we weren't able to play in front of our fans in Pittsburgh, I think that would be pretty tough for a lot of people," Taillon said. "I think that's part of what makes baseball and the World Series so special. Getting able to play in front of your fans."
