Cleveland Indians rumors: AL, NL Central only opponents if play resumes

With baseball eyeing a return of July 1, the Cleveland Indians would play an region-exclusive schedule, according to the latest rumors.

Will there be baseball in 2020? There’s still a lot of moving parts in determining whether it’s safe enough for MLBers to meet on the diamond, however if play does resume, the Cleveland Indians may be playing a heavy dose of games against the NL Central.

Previous rumors have targeted July 1 as to when MLB would like to start games. Now, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman is reporting that baseball would carve out a 76-82 game scenario under this time frame with teams playing exclusively in their respective regions.

For example, the Tribe would play the AL Central, and the NL Central (Cubs, Pirates, Brewers, Cardinals, Reds).

Plus, the NL would use the DH at all times, with the reason being pitchers are going to be undergoing a tall order to get into game shape.

1. A wrinkle in the plan could be undone by labor strife, which is not something a country with 14,7 percent unemployment wants to hear.

Basically, Sherman reported the owners want the players to ease their financial burden even more since the season is expected to be played without fans.

The players argued that their union accepted to take prorated salaries for the season during their agreement with the owners on March 26–and that’s that.

2. Leave it to baseball to even make this an issue. My belief is that if it’s safe to play, both sides aren’t stupid enough to cancel games over money. That said, they sacked the 1994 World Series, and that didn’t even take a global pandemic.

3. Sherman offers up the idea of deferred payments as a method to satisfy both sides. Basically, when the owners are making money again at the gate, they’ll have an easier time paying their players.

4. Another interesting nugget; Players would push for 100 games, since they’re paid on prorated salaries, as of right now. The more they play, the more they make.