Report: ‘A Bit More Optimism’ That There is a 2020 MLB Season

We all miss the Pittsburgh Pirates and baseball, and remain hopeful that there will be a 2020 season

The MLB season should be more than two months old at this point. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic this is not the case. Instead, fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates and every other MLB team are stuck waiting and hoping for good news.

According to Jon Heyman of the MLB Network, that good news will not come before the original soft June 1 deadline. Owners and players alike were hoping to have a deal to start the 2020 season hammered out by June 1. Unfortunately, that did not happen.

All hope may not be lost for baseball, however. Heyman added that there does appear to be growing optimism among the two sides that they can get a deal done. Not just is there optimism to get a deal done, but to get one done in time to still start the season by the 4th of July.

That said, Heyman said players and owners both know they must reach an agreement soon in order to make that happen. In his reporting, Heyman said that deal will likely need to be reached in the next 5 to 10 days if the season is to start in early July.

Ultimately, Heyman said, both sides realize there is far too much at stake to allow a disagreement over money prevent a season from happening. There is little doubt that the MLB season being cancelled would be a crushing blow to the sport. Odds are, it would be an even bigger blow than the 1994 strike was.

If baseball does not return it will not just be a lack of baseball being played that will hurt the sport. Sadly, the sport has already been dropping in popularity in recent years. With the NHL ready to return this month, the NBA not looking for behind, and both the NFL and college football looking ready to roll this fall, the MLB being the lone major sport to not return would be a massive black eye. Especially when the sticking point is billionaires and millionaires arguing over money. While the players are not wrong to push for a large portion of their salaries and of revenue sharing, many people will still look down on them for it.

Heyman also talked about the postseason set up for 2020, if there is a season.

A 14 team postseason would be much different from the 10 team postseason that MLB has had since 2012. It would without a doubt add more excitement to the postseason as more cities and markets would be invested into the postseason. Also, with increased postseason spots comes an increased opportunity for the Pittsburgh Pirates to reach the postseason. Optimism bay bay!!

We miss the Pittsburgh Pirates. We miss the MLB. Please, players and owners, figure this out and let’s get baseball back. Signed, baseball fans everywhere.’