Cleveland Indians: What is going on with baseball in 2020?

What if there is no baseball for the Cleveland Indians and all of MLB in 2020?

The bickering going on between the MLBPA and the league owners continues, 11 days before July 1. This is such an important date because it’s when the Cleveland Indians and the rest of MLB were plotting a return.

Now, as talks lag on and the two sides make the public hate them even more, many are pondering if there’s even a slight chance we’ll see any baseball before next year.

If the two parties settle down and somehow even have a partial in season, there are a few questions about how long the schedule should last.

Plus, there’s debate about how many teams would go into the playoffs and then, would these contests be best of five- or seven-game series? There are so many questions and so many variables, ultimately driven by money.

If there is baseball, what about the stats? No sport holds its statistics more sacred than baseball. Will there be another asterisk for any records set, or ERA, home run or batting championships won?  God knows there is enough asterisks on baseball record already! What about counting on the players right to retirement or not?

Fans in Cleveland will wonder about the status of Frankie Lindor’s contract? According to the first deal the union and the owner’s reached back on March 26, players would accrue a year of service time in a shortened season, or if there were no season at all.

Might Frankie have played his last game in an Indians uniform? If there is no season, it sure doesn’t make sense to hold onto him with one year to play on this deal.

So many questions, and so far nothing but back and forth between the two concerned parties. Now there’s talk of games ending in ties, runners starting extra innings on second base.

Fans must wonder with all these questions to be answered from both sides, and time dwindling down, if baseball’s going to make it to the finish line.  Don’t forget, the players need a preseason training program. A second spring training and a rush to play the regular season seems like setting stage for potential injuries.

As for the owners, around the rumor mill, some indicate they’ll lose more money playing, than if they didn’t. That’s because there are no fans in the stands and it remains to be seen whether that will change because of the COVID-19 pandemic.