I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Bryce Harper was right when he was 23-years-old. We desperately need to “make baseball fun again.” Unfortunately, that mission appears futile, at least for the time being.
Spring Training kicked off last week, with players and teams reconvening throughout Florida and Arizona to prepare for the 2020 season. This time of year is supposed to be one of anticipation, excitement and optimism. Baseball is back, and fans, players and the media alike should be happy about it.
Boy, do I wish that were the case.
Instead, Major League Baseball finds itself amid a cacophony of chaos. This offseason has included a handful of high-profile firings and suspensions, the trade of one of the sport’s most popular players and a massive cheating scandal.
Yet somehow, things continue to get worse by the day.
Commissioner Rob Manfred’s mishandling of the aforementioned cheating saga has been well-documented, but it seems that the commish’s foot has taken up permanent residence in his mouth. He deflects, bloviates and passes the blame. He stands by his punishments, even as the rest of the baseball world openly mocks him.
In recent days alone, baseball’s biggest stars have joined the conversation, each arguing that cheating is bad for the game (duh), the Astros are a shameful organization (double duh) and that they got off too easy (also duh). Obviousness aside, it is remarkable that the likes of Mike Trout, Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge have come out harshly against Manfred and the league. Even LeBron James has chimed in.
Some players, like Cincinatti Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer, have been even more blunt.
“I’m not going to let [the Astros] forget the fact that they are hypocrites, they are cheaters, they’ve stolen from a lot of other people and the game itself,” Bauer said to ESPN earlier this week.
Making matters worse for MLB — which is in the middle of the crisis — is a report leaked about a proposed restructuring of baseball’s playoff format.
The plan, which would go into effect in 2022, would expand the postseason from five to seven teams in each league, awarding each league’s top seed with a bye to avoid the wild card round, much like the NFL playoff format. The other two division winners would select their opponents from among the four wild card teams and the two remaining teams would match up against each other. All three series would be best-of-three and the selections would occur live on television.
I am torn about the proposal. On the one hand, the more playoff baseball, the better. On the other hand, I do not want MLB to turn into reality television. I don’t care which team wants to play whom. And I definitely don’t want to watch Aaron Boone ask Ron Roenicke if he will accept this rose.
While I continue to mull over an idea that will likely never happen anyway, you’d be correct if you guessed that Bauer had some choice words about it.
“No idea who made this new playoff format proposal, but [Manfred] is responsible for releasing it, so I’ll direct this to you, Rob Manfred,” Bauer tweeted. “Your proposal is absurd for too many reasons to type on twitter and proves you have absolutely no clue about baseball. You’re a joke.”
Ouch.
The playoff plan received swift criticism from around the game and even more flak for its timing. Whether the leak was intentional or not, it came off as a PR move executed to distract from the cheating scandal and the league’s gross mishandling of it. That did not go over well and nor should it have.
So where does the league go from here? Spring Training games begin in just days and the general feeling around the game is anger. Unfortunately, there’s no clear answer.
First, the league needs to stop offering poor excuses. Manfred and the suits over at MLB fostered a culture where rampant and systemic cheating spread through the game like a plague and they need to own that. The league needs to take steps to prevent further damage like banning the use of in-game video and try to move on.
Next, let the players speak. A majority of the league feels frustrated and betrayed for good reason. Let them get it out now, so we can all focus on baseball when the time comes.
Finally — this is not the most likely outcome — but Manfred really must go. He’s lost all trust of the teams and fans, and he has continually botched every step of this process. His players are calling him a joke. Except, nobody is laughing.
MLB created this mess for itself and it is on the league to clean it up. All we can do now is count down the days until we get to watch baseball again.
If I were the Astros, I’d invest in some stronger shoulder pads. The hit-by-pitches are going to fall like rain. And they’ll reverberate around the league like bangs on a trash can.
