Save for Padres, teams not too quick in making moves
BOSTON — It’s finally 2021 and there is hope for a baseball season that will include fans at the ballpark. But when that season will start still isn’t certain.
That has led to a ponderous pace in free agency with only a handful of notable players having signed. Through Friday, just seven free agents had agreed to contacts worth more than $8 million.
If not for the San Diego Padres trading for Yu Darvish and Blake Snell, baseball would be getting less notice than the Gator Bowl.
Let’s try and sort out where things stand.
When will spring training start? There’s a schedule in place that has Grapefruit and Cactus League games starting Feb. 27. But it’s hard to find anybody in the game who actually believes that will happen.
MLB has told teams to be prepared for an on-time start. But that seems like a best-case scenario.
“You have to be adaptable,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said, echoing similar comments from other managers and general managers.
The Players Association will advocate for a 162-game season starting April 1 as scheduled, citing the success baseball had completing an abbreviated season in 2020.
Both sides want to avoid the protracted public dispute the sport endured last spring, but there is little trust between the union and owners.
“We’ll play more games than last year but fewer than 162,” one GM predicted.
How will spring training work? Florida had a record 17,000 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, a number expected to climb given the packed New Year’s Eve celebrations in Tampa, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and other cities.
Fifteen teams bringing 50-60 players to 13 locations in Florida could be asking for trouble.
When the Red Sox and other teams held workouts for minor leaguers in October, there were masking and social distance protocols at the ballparks. The concern is what happens when the players leave the facility.
Will fans be allowed at Fenway Park? The first home game is scheduled for April 1 and the Red Sox are selling season tickets. But individual game tickets are not yet on sale.
The Sox will follow the guidelines set by the state. The team is working on plans for how many fans could be accommodated at Fenway. There’s also a question of how much extra space will be needed for players if social distancing is required.
Will there be a universal DH? Even National League managers have come around on the idea, almost unanimously. The rule was changed as a safety measure last season. Any permanent change would require an agreement with the Players Association. That would seem like an easy task. But the owners are expected to want something in return because the union has long been an advocate for the universal DH.
Other rules changes: The state of the pandemic will determine most of the other changes, although there is momentum for making the extra-inning rule permanent.
Where will the Blue Jays be? With the NBA’s Toronto Raptors playing “home” games at Amalie Arena in Tampa, the Blue Jays are contemplating where they will play next season given the Canadian government’s strict coronavirus protocols.
The Jays could return to their Triple A stadium in Buffalo, which served them well last season. But the team’s renovated spring training complex in Dunedin, Fla., is a bigger possibility than it was six months ago.