MLB 2020: An Abbreviated Season
Rob Manfred Presents: A Major League Mess
A RUNNING OP-ED BY RJ HENLE
Last Year’s Winners: Washington Nationals
Last Year’s Losers: Houston Astros (Big Time)
Best 2020 Outlook: Chicago White Sox
Worst 2020 Outlook: New York Mets
2020 World Series Prediction: Los Angeles Dodgers vs New York Yankees
2020 World Series Winners: Dodgers in 6
Covid-19 is not the only big issue circling Major League Baseball this season; from the cheating scandal that swept the league, to the Commissioner’s war on Minor League Baseball, all is not well in the world of baseball.
The Marlins’ Positive Test
On Monday, it was reported that a large (14) amount of the Miami Marlins had tested positive for coronavirus.
The Marlins, who had played scrimmages in Atlanta, had lost some players before the season started, due to the virus, but by Sunday the team was suffering a full-blown outbreak.
Knowing that the game against the Phillies last Sunday was in jeopardy, Major League Baseball allowed the Marlins to decide if they were going to play.
Now, the Marlins have had 17 positive tests between players and coaches, with the number continuing to climb through Thursday.
Luckily, the Phillies have had only one positive test, but the Marlins’ season is currently on hold, and the Yankees and Phillies both had week-long rests, with their schedules being made up on the fly.
If anyone can shoulder multiple PR disasters at the same time, it is Rob Manfred.
Manfred, on ESPN Opening Night, went on live television and was praised endlessly by potential future Mets owner Alex Rodriguez on his “call to action.”
In reality, Manfred didn’t have the wherewithal to get the Marlins and Phillies game shut down before first pitch on Sunday. He is the Commissioner of MLB and “he didn’t know” is nowhere near good enough.
It is not an excuse for the overseer of a specific sport during the middle of a Pandemic where 150,000 people have died to allow players to put themselves at increased risk is not right.
Baseball has a Rob Manfred problem, and it is rotten to the core.
The leader of the sport is devoid of accountability and he will watch this game collapse on itself if he continues to run the Show.
A business model that puts the players, their health and safety first is paramount to the future of this season and the future of the League.
The Cheating Scandal
A far cry from their 2017 championship run, the Houston Astros, fresh off a World Series loss to the Washington Nationals, were discovered to have participated in one of the worst cheating scandals since the White Sox had eight players banned in the early 1900s.
An investigation into the conduct of the Astros revealed a deep-rooted, systemic, carelessness about ethical integrity, sexism, and professional baseball. As a result of the ethical delinquency, GM Jeff Luhnhow and Manager A.J. Hinch were fired and given year-long suspensions—but the repercussions did not stop there.
It has been reported, with evidence, that the Astros would bang on trash cans, signaling from the dugout, to the batter, which pitch the pitcher was set to deliver.
The amount of deception and cheating here is significant, serious, and ultimately a tragedy for America’s Game. Multiple players involved have gone on the record to apologize, but as always, it’s much easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, particularly for the Astros players, who were given a mere slap on the wrist.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who was bench coach for the Astros in 2017 and Manager of the 2018 World Series champion Boston Red Sox, was found to be a vital participant of the cheating system, and was found to be using the team’s replay room improperly.
He was subsequently fired by the Red Sox for his role in the scandal.
Which brings us to the New York Mets, because of course the Mets.
It is disturbingly romantic that schemes like this usually end up with an innocent oaf of a victim, caught in something they weren’t aware of. In this case, it was the Mets who had brought back one of the most beloved players in recent history, and Alex Cora protégé, Carlos Beltran.
Beltran, a Hall-Of-Fame Outfielder, who spent a while in New York playing MVP-caliber baseball had a less than graceful exit from the team when he was traded to the San Francisco Giants for now-Phillies’ $150 million man Zack Wheeler.
The Mets, seeing an opportunity to bring a young, sharp mind back to his old stomping ground quickly backfired when the scandal implicated him as a key figure in the cheating scandal, enabling and assisting Cora during his final season as a player for the Astros.
Beltran was removed from his position before managing a single game.
A disaster for a franchise that’s owners made their bed with Bernie Madoff and then refused to sell the franchise right before the pandemic hit and will have to now sell the team at a moderate discount.
Joe Kelly and the Astros
On Monday night, Los Angeles Dodgers’ relief pitcher, and renowned on-field psycho, Joe Kelly decided to enact his own revenge on the Astros, who most feel escaped any real punishment for their cheating scandal, by throwing behind Astros third baseman Alex Bregman.
Say what you will about the cheating, whether you are an Astros fan or not, what Houston did cast a dark shadow over professional baseball.
But that pitch from Joe Kelly to Bregman’s dome is a direct result of the ongoing tensions between the league’s pitchers and the Astros.
These tensions, inflamed by the inaction of Rob Manfred, Joe Torre and other higher ups who decided against punishing specific players, in return for their cooperation, will only continue to escalate after Kelly was slapped with an eight-game suspension.
which many believe the extent of cheating will never be public information.
Though my belief is that the suspension will be reduced to five games, this was widely seen as a slap to the face to the pitchers of the League, including Marcus Stroman, Trevor Bauer and Jimmy Nelson.
Not to mention, Kelly’s suspension is an ethical disaster.
Throwing 96 MPH pitches at people’s heads, is extremely dangerous and doing it purposefully is wrong.
But Joe Kelly deserves a fine for his actions. His vigilantism is a byproduct of the lack of action taken by the Commissioner to adequately punish the players responsible for cheating their ways to Titles.
Opportunity Awaits
In defense of the Mets, their awful luck may have very well pushed them to hire the best man for the job in former Quality Control coach and Dominican Summer League manager Luis Rojas.
In high school and college, my parents would drive me to Port St. Lucie to watch the Mets’ Single A baseball team play. MiLB is affordable, and with packs plenty of bang for your buck, as there is plenty of solid talent on the field. I would regularly see baseball veteran Moises Alou.
Alou, infamously known for his run-in with Steve Bartman and the subsequent Chicago meltdown, takes away from how good Alou was as a player.
Not only that, but Alou’s father was highly respected player and manager Felipe Alou and his half-brother is none other than Luis Rojas Alou, the current Mets manager.
So, clearly I am biased, but Rojas deserved the job over Beltran.
A scouting mishap early in Luis’ playing career meant the last name Alou was dropped. Despite not carrying his father’s name through his playing days, he still carries his legacy.
Felipe Alou was the manager of the San Francisco Giants and Montreal Expos when Rojas was a kid, so he grew up in the spotlight of the Big Leagues.
Rojas has been around the Mets organization for close to a decade, meaning that most of the team has already been managed by Rojas in some capacity.
He blends awareness and old school baseball and integrates it with the numbers and data that appeals to the younger generation of baseball fans.
I believe this is a blessing in disguise for the Mets, I believe in Rojas’s ability to reach players and coaches of every background, and I feel he will build this franchise into a winner, though I’m incredibly nervous about the pitching rotation.
Cannot see them winning more than 25 games in this abbreviated season.
Manfred’s Assault on the Minors
Unfortunately, for the majority of professional baseball players, life is about getting to the next day. Baseball is a brutal day-in, day-out regiment that can end with one bad pitch, one elbow ligament tear or freak injury.
Some players, many players, are spit out by the game they love and they should be treated better.
That is patently, objectively true.
Enter Rob Manfred, a commissioner seemingly hell-bent on “cleaning up” the Minor Leagues, by eliminating many of the League’s small-town semi-pro teams.
Manfred has been making surface changes to the game of baseball since he took over for Bud Selig, but his vision has really come into the fold over the last three seasons.
His “pace-of-play” initiative (ironic) set a standard of the move to a more “friendly viewing experience” which is sometimes needed, and mostly taken in stride by players in baseball.
He has now used that move to consolidate players in the Minor Leagues, cutting hundreds of jobs and resisting giving human beings better compensation on the basis of owners simply “not being able to afford it,” while he and the owners refuse requests from thousands of professionals asking them to open up their finances so they may verify and justify taking pay cuts.
When talking to Minor Leaguers, he proposed a solution to wipe out almost a quarter of the minor leagues, threatened to walk away from MiLB teams entirely, and argued that negotiating in public had harmed MiLB when it came to labor negotiations with MLB (once again, ironic).
With Covid-19 wreaking havoc on baseball and fast-forwarding us into Labor Negotiations, Manfred has ushered in most of his plan to destroy MiLB, as teams have had to release hundreds of players due to “salary constraints.” A move that will certainly accelerate Manfred’s vision for the Minors.
Manfred’s position is that by reducing the number of teams, there can be streamlined access from Triple-A to the Majors.
MLB would also like to exercise more control when it comes to cutting individual leagues, like Rookie Ball and short-season Single A, turning them into a summer league for college players transitioning to pro-ball, they are set to dub the “Dream League.”
Minor League Owners have called this move short sighted and have gone on record to say it will destroy economic opportunities. The reluctance from people who hold positions of power in the game of baseball to answer questions, is just another act of disrespect the game has endured since the beginning of Manfred’s reign.
Manfred, who is not one scared of conflict, made his negotiations with Minor League Baseball public and ugly. When teams cut dozens of MiLB players, you can’t help but question Manfred’s humanity in a time of uncertainty for all. His vision is clearly coming to fruition, and it does not feel or look like baseball will be better as a result.
Most Fascinating Watch
The player I will be keeping the closest eye on this season is Chicago White Sox Outfielder Luis Robert.
Robert, a 22-year-old Cuban-defectant-wunderkind, signed a contract with a $26 million signing bonus in 2017, before even stepping on foot on a U.S. field.
Already a Top 10 prospect in 2019, Robert further piqued interest when he put up a 30/30 (30 Home Runs, 30 Steals) season in the Minors and led MiLB in hits.
At the beginning of the new year, Robert agreed to a $50 million contract, tying him to Chicago through 2026, with the contract being worth $88 including incentives.
Robert is a must-watch player who has the makings of a Top 10 player, based on his performance thus far.
He is my pick for AL Rookie Of the Year, and why the White Sox are my go-to team to watch this season. A young pitching staff, that has added the consistent arms of Dallas Keuchel, Gio Gonzalez and multiple veteran bullpen arms including Steve Cishek and Kelvin Herrera.
I believe this pitching staff, along with a talented, young and hungry offense, mixed with a fairly easy schedule (Royals, Tigers, Pirates), should see the boys of the southside of Chicago win a ton of games this season.
