Cleveland Indians rumors: 8 owners enough to scrap 2020 season

Eight owner votes is all it would take to cancel the season for the Cleveland Indians and MLB.

Whether or not baseball returns comes down the players and owners compromising over the numbers of games played. Currently, the players want 70, while the owners want 60. There’s a country song about meeting in the middle, but the way these two sides bicker, they’re likely to only end up farther apart.

I digress. Let’s say they actually come to an agreement on the numbers of games and wages, after all the haggling, could the season be nixed?

Around the rumor mill, there at least eight owners in favoring of scrapping the season, according to Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy. These supposed “stewards of the game” argue they stand to lose more money playing, than if they didn’t.

For a season to happen, three-fourths of the owners would haves to say “yes”. That’s 23 votes. If eight vote no, that leaves MLB one short.

1. The owners contend that if they play those extra 10 games, it will cost them $250 million, or $25 million per day.

2. Before you feel too bad for the owners, know that all MLB teams are estimated to be worth over $1 billion. Sure, the Yankees are worth more than anyone ($5 billion), but even the smaller markets over valued over 10 figures. The Dolans bought the Indians from Dick Jacobs for $323 million in 2000. The franchise is estimated to be worth $1.15 billion.

3. Give it to the Dolans for making this investment, because at the time, it was viewed as a hefty sum to pay. Remember, the Indians were winding down their hey days of the 1990s. The Browns came back in 1999. By April of 2001, the sellout streak of 455 games had come to an end.

4. Between 2002-2012, the Indians lost a lot of games, with a few aberrations mixed in (2005 and 2007). But the thing I always remember about the Dolans was their desire to build a consistent winner with a modest payroll.

Well, since 2013, the Indians boast MLB’s best overall record, although that World Series championship eludes the organization.

5. The Indians signed their fourth undrafted free agent, adding high school shortstop/pitcher Alonzo Richardson out of Helix High School in California.

The Indians do view Richardson as a two-way player.  They consider him to have above average range and arm strength at short, while they also like his approach at the plate.

On the bump, Richardson throws 89-90 miles per hour, and his best pitch is a curve ball.

Two way players were all the rage not too long ago, when Shoei Ohtani was making headlines with the Angels, while the Reds made Hunter Greene the second overall player taken in the 2017 draft.

6. Other free-agent signees include catcher Michigan catcher Joe Donovan; Fresno State southpaw Jamie Arias; and Hawaii right-hander Cade Smith.