Saturday Bantering: Baseball to Start in July?

Sorry to hear about Little Richard. He had the rock and roll voice. Almost everyone else who sang rock and roll copied him.

Over in the Athletic, Ken Rosenthal tell us about MLB’s latest plan to get the season in. The main points:

• An 80ish game season.
• Teams will be only playing other teams in their region. AL East teams will play AL East teams and NL East teams.
• Most, maybe all teams, will play in their home park (presuming the border is open by then).
• More teams will make the playoffs, 7 from each league.
• Players will be asked to accept less pay. Now there is a surprise.
• Rosters will be expanded, maybe to 45 players. Maybe with a taxi squad.

Also in the Athletic, Keith Law writes about how the 5-round draft hurts players and the game.

He notes that many good players were drafted after the 5th round. These players will have the choice of signing as undrafted free agents (for $20,000) or play college ball (presuming that there are colleges that will play baseball his year).

Division I schools have only 11.7 scholarships per team, and coaches plan to distribute those under the assumption that some juniors will not return for their senior years and that some of their top recruits will never reach campus. Some members of both groups will now be at school, fighting for the same playing time and the same limited scholarships, which will squeeze some players out of lineups, out of scholarships or off rosters entirely.

This could be a boon for junior college baseball, at least where such schools still have the resources to operate teams next spring, as they could welcome any top high school prospects who aren’t drafted and offer them the chance to play for one year and re-enter the draft in 2021 (or even two years, re-entering the draft in 2021 and 2022).

The reason for the smaller draft is that there will be no minor league ball for the drafted players. And, of course, so MLB teams can save money (that latter part is why MLB does everything they do):

On the whole, however, this plan helps MLB owners more than anybody else and risks us losing talented players to something other than baseball. It takes money away from some of the players who do sign, even before we consider the risk that some teams will lowball high picks and spend less than their total bonus pools.

Sportsnet is going to show some of Roy Halladay’s best starts over the next week. I really like the idea. Hopefully they can do the same with some of Dave Stieb’s best starts soon too:

Monday, May 11 at 7 p.m. ET (Sportsnet)

Blue Jays Rewind: Baltimore Orioles vs. Toronto Blue Jays (June 13, 2006: Jays win 7-1 after Halladay shuts down the Orioles with a six-hitter)

Tuesday, May 12 at 7 p.m. ET (Sportsnet)

Blue Jays Rewind: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Toronto Blue Jays (June 20, 2007: Halladay pitches eight innings in the Jays’ 12-1 rout of the Dodgers)

Wednesday, May 13 at 7 p.m. ET (Sportsnet)

Blue Jays Rewind: New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays (July 11, 2008: Halladay throws a two-hitter as the Jays win 5-0 over the Yankees)

Thursday, May 14 at 7 p.m. ET (Sportsnet)

Blue Jays Rewind: New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays (Sept. 25, 2008: Halladay records his 20th win of the 2008 season)

Friday, May 15 at 7 p.m. ET (Sportsnet)

Blue Jays Rewind: New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays (May 12, 2009: Jays win 5-1 as Halladay pitches a five-hitter against his former teammate A.J. Burnett)

Saturday, May 16 at 6 p.m. ET (Sportsnet)

Blue Jays Rewind: Seattle Mariners vs. Toronto Blue Jays (Sept. 25, 2009: Halladay strikes out nine batters as the Jays shutout the Mariners 5-0)

Saturday, May 16 at 8 p.m. ET (Sportsnet)

MLB Rewind: Philadelphia Phillies vs. Florida Marlins (May 29, 2010: Halladay pitches a perfect game against the Marlins)

Sunday, May 17 at 4:30 p.m. ET (Sportsnet)

Blue Jays Rewind: Toronto Blue Jays vs. Boston Red Sox (Sept. 30, 2009: Halladay takes the mound for the last time as a Blue Jay in Toronto’s 12-0 rout of Boston)

Sunday, May 17 at 7 p.m. ET (Sportsnet)

MLB Rewind: Cincinnati Reds vs. Philadelphia Phillies (Oct. 6, 2010: Halladay pitches a no-hitter during the 2010 MLB post-season)

Speaking of Halladay ESPN is going to have a documentary on Doc, looking at his post-baseball life. It looks pretty depressing, I’m not sure I need something depressing right now.