Baseball Avoids Catastrophe... For Now.

Rob Manfred and MLB have dodged a major bullet by implementing a 60-game season for 2020. With health and safety hurdles being cleared, all teams will report to training camp by July 1st and the season will start on July 24. That sounds nice for a sport that has spent the past few months trying to figure out the start to the season that included exclusively playing in Arizona at one point.

While this sounds nice, there is the elephant in the room: the CBA. I've mentioned in an earlier blog post about how devastating it would be to the game of baseball if no season was implemented. Even after Manfred gave negotiating with MLBPA chief Tony Clark a second go, there were still some disagreements. The current CBA expires after next season and there will be money-related issues to talk about. Arbitration, free agency, and other items will be on the table and it will be up to Manfred and the owners to save face and avoid a dragged-out squabble with the player's union. Otherwise, baseball's future will look bleak.

Am I excited for baseball to finally be back? Yes, I am. Was it worth the wait? Eh, it could've been done sooner. Do both sides need to work out their issues before baseball's future strikes out? Absolutely.