As most of the world is in lock down, MLB, the union, players, agents and media pundits are kicking the can (the 2020 season) down the road.
The owners want the most games for the revenue.
The players want the most games for service time toward free agency.
The fans want the most games for enjoyment.
But how many games will constitute a valid season?
If the shutdown continues through May, is four months of games enough to have a legitimate champion? An 108 game schedule (2/3 season) seems reasonable.
But it gets tricky after that point.
How many is too little?
You have 30 teams, 15 per division. In a shortened season, would it not be prudent to keep the games within your league?
If so, each club has 14 opponents. You would think each owner would want at least one "home and home" series. Three games two times 14 equals 84 games. Is this the bare minimum?
What if it a shortened two game series per club? 56 games played seems awfully light.
Some would say 81 games, half of a regular season, is the cut off point. There is some speculation that a drawn out wave of coronavirus spread across the US could shut down travel and gatherings throughout the summer.
Some have proposed that you can fatten the number of games played by increasing doubleheaders. But even with expanded rosters, multiple double headers during a week will grind pitching staffs down to the bone. Is it worth the risk for the long term viability of the game?
These are important questions for baseball, but for also other industries trying to cope with the uncertainty of this situation. As we now know, baseball is not an essential service.
