No All-Star Game in 2020?

Will there be an All-Star Game in 2020?

• Yes: 26%
• No: 74%

I’m in the minority here. I think we may well see an All-Star Game - but it’ll be as the effective start of the season, at the end of spring training v2.0. Quite where, or how, that might be, we’ll have to wait and see. But July 4 somewhere might be a nice date for which to aim. And if half of the teams are back in Arizona for their pre-season warm-ups, why not have it in Chase Field? By that point, nothing will be surviving outdoors in Arizona, least of all some pesky virus. :) However, I will admit that these are certainly hopes rather than necessary expectations, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the All-Star Game ends up becoming collateral damage.

How many games need to be played for a meaningful season in 2020?

• 80+: 40.13%
• 100+: 39.8%
• 120+: 15%
• 140+: 5%

Frankly, I’ll take whatever I can get, and will call that meaningful. Heck, twenty games would be fine by me. It’s probably the case that, the smaller the number the games, the better the chances of the D-backs disrupting the string of Dodger NL West titles. Also, the smaller the number of games, the less value they’ll get out of Mookie Betts I’m fine with that as well. Sadly, I can’t say MLB giving the go-ahead for a twenty-game regular season this year. Yhough they might end up desperate for anything to stave off having to hand back a very large suitcase of cash back to the television companies. FOX alone are paying somewhere north of $700 million per year.

Should there still be a spring training?

• Yes: 65%
• No: 35%

This is something we were talking about last night. If there isn’t spring training, pitchers are going to be at a massive disadvantage, and it’s going to be like aluminum bats were suddenly allowed in MLB. Nick Ahmed has said he thinks he could be ready in about a week, after only 15-20 at-bats. That might work for position players, but it’s only going to be one, or at most two, appearances for a starting pitcher. They may be keeping themselves fit enough in their home gyms. But there’s a reason pitchers and catchers report to spring training before the rest of the position players. Given the amount of money invested in those arms, teams will be loathe to throw them straight into the regular season.

If the season ends much later than normal, should next season be delayed?

• Yes: 20%
• No: 80%

I’m surprised that Yes got as much as one-fifth of the votes. Of course, the “much later” part is kinda vague. If it ends up running on into February, then I can see the idea of delaying 2021 as making sense. But I would presume what we’re talking about is, perhaps, November playoffs, with a World Series around Thanksgiving [again, the prospect of a Game 7 being played at Chase Field ON Thanksgiving, is something which very much appeals to me. The symbolism of that really doesn’t need to be explained] That’d still give even the participants a good two months off before spring training 2021 starts up again. I think they would be able to survive, somehow.

Does it make sense to have a five round draft?

• No, need more rounds: 53%
• No, cancel the draft: 6%
• Yes: 41%

This one ends in a relatively even split, between those who want more, and those who are fine with five or even zero rounds in the draft. I can see how canceling it would cause an awful lot of problems. What would happen to players who finished college this year? Would they just go back and hang around for another year, before entering the draft in 2021? But this would be unfair on that class, who would get pushed down due to the rolling-over of talent. I imagine teams will still end up signing more than five players apiece out of the draft, regardless of the number of rounds. They still have those short-season rosters to fill. Although the future of MiLB teams is probably another story, for another day...