2020 MLB Season: Maybe a 50-games is what baseball needs

A shortened 2020 MLB season will bring upon much more randomness.

Fewer games means less predictability in the standings, which in turn, could possibly result in a rather interesting race down the stretch. No more instantly counting out teams like the Miami Marlins, Kansas City Royals and the Baltimore Orioles (well… maybe not so much the Orioles)… technically every team is just a few winning streaks away from setting themselves up for the postseason.

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Memorial Day has always been declared the appropriate date to start looking at the standings (roughly 50 games in), well in a 50-game season that day would mark the end of the regular season. Imagine all of the teams still in contention in late-May.

If nothing else, let’s at least make the 2020 MLB season fun.

The truth is, the 2020 season is already going to be looked at differently than any other season in MLB history (it may already even qualify for an asterisk), so why not go ahead and make it as exciting as possible, while also ensuring it’s as safe as possible? Also, experts have been telling us for months now that a second-wave of COVID-19 is headed this way come fall, suggesting that any notion of an extended season would be a massive risk.

And it’s not just all about fun and safety either. A 50-game season also guarantees players their full pro-rated salaries for the 2020 season, which only seems fair for both the owners and players, even if you disagree with either side’s position.

I mean, I’d much rather have a full 162 this year, but that ship has obviously sailed. So if the league and Players Union can’t settle their differences soon, a 50-game season doesn’t appear too awful of a last resort.