Decision on fate of 2020 MLB season hinges on money as much as on coronavirus itself
Dr. Anthony Fauci is one of the experts advising President Trump on the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, Fauci is the leading voice, and he lent it to Vanity Fair earlier this week.
It’s possible the 2020 Major League Baseball season could be played in a few months, he said, but without fans and with strict protocols in place.
It sounds like Fauci is well aware of the Arizona Plan, which was floated a few weeks ago. Under that scenario, all 30 MLB teams would head to Arizona, play at their spring facilities or college ballparks without fans, and — most crucially — players would be sequestered to remain in their hotels for the remainder of the day. This could go on for months.
Commissioner Rob Manfred seemed to back away from such a plan on Wednesday in an interview with the Fox Business Network. He said MLB doesn’t have a plan so much as it has ideas, lots and lots of ideas, on how to get the season started.
The Arizona Plan/Idea hasn’t gone over well with the game’s best player, Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout.
The three-time American League MVP called the idea of being restricted only to the ballpark and a hotel “pretty crazy” and told NBC Sports a few days ago about his concern for players and their families.
Fauci, Manfred and Trout are three of the central figures in the fate of MLB’s 2020 season, and none of them made it seem like playing ball was imminent.
Neither did a report from The Athletic that said MLB owners and the MLB Players Association have differing opinions on how much players would be paid during the season.
Oh.
Is it really that obvious who will dictate when and if baseball is played this season?
In the end, it will not be Fauci, Manfred, Trout nor Trump who will decide this.
Benjamin Franklin will.
It’s all about the Benjamins.
The owners have billions, are hemorrhaging millions, and want to cut their losses by getting games on TV and paying players less than what their contracts say.
Even Fauci sees the potential TV ratings boon that would land in MLB’s lap, agreeing with the Vanity Fair observation that people adhering to stay-at-home orders would turn their bored and lonely eyes to baseball.
Players like money, too, especially the ones who spend it as fast as they get it or the ones who don’t have as much of it as people think.
But what many people forget is that players, who may be catered to throughout the season and able to afford what most of us can’t, are humans just like anyone else.
They don’t want to get sick. They don’t want to get their families sick. They don’t want to be away from their families.
Trout and his wife are expecting their first child in August, and he’s not going to miss the birth.
“Am I going to quarantine for two weeks after I come back?” Trout asked rhetorically.
Manfred said that the driving factor in baseball’s return will depend on if the spread of coronavirus is controlled to the point where games can be played without jeopardizing the health of players, employees and fans.
The country and Texas started moving that way by presenting a staggered, limited reopening of the country. Opening sports venues is part of Phase I.
Manfred also said it is MLB’s intention to be part of the economic recovery.
The owners want to be part of the recovery, and need the players to play without a vaccine for COVID-19.
Pay the players in full. Call it hazard pay.
After all, it’s all about the Benjamins.
