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With the ever fluid COVID-19 situation at hand, and CDC recommendations of banning gatherings of 50+ people for eight weeks, MLB has announced the 2020 season won’t start until late May at the earliest.
Statement from Major League Baseball: pic.twitter.com/E5xPfMGOc0
— MLB (@MLB) March 16, 2020
Here’s how this stoppage will affect players not on the Blue Jays 40-man roster like Phillippe Aumont.
MLB is also prohibiting all scouting activity, as to not give any clubs a scouting advantage over the others prior to the amateur draft in June:
Effectively immediately, MLB is temporarily prohibiting all scouting activity, both domestic and international, a source tells The Athletic. No tryouts, public or private. No attending of amateur games, showcases, workouts. No in-home or in-person visits, or scouting remotely.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 16, 2020
There haven’t been any reports of any major league players with the virus yet, but a Yankees minor leaguer tested positive over the weekend.
Thankfully, it sounds like the Toronto employees who will be affected by this delay are going to receive support:
Together we are Team Toronto. pic.twitter.com/1Cy8lQMRKy
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) March 15, 2020
Also over the weekend, Trevor Bauer held an impromptu ‘Sandlot’ game to raise money for charity. Since the game was in Arizona, none of the participants were from the Blue Jays.
If you had the power to decide the schedule for MLB upon it’s eventual return, how would you execute it? Would you shorten the season? Play a bunch of double headers? Get rid of the All Star Game? Postpone into October/November? Remove all Blue Jays games against the Yankees?
Tell us your best ideas in the comments below.