Major League Baseball shocked itself to life on Wednesday, a day after commissioner Rob Manfred and Players’ Association president Tony Clark met for negotiations in Phoenix.
Though no agreement had been struck by Wednesday evening, reports suggest the two sides — which have been steeped in mistrust for years, culminating in this week’s contentious negotiations that played out via the media — were on track toward a deal for a 2020 baseball season.
[Baseball is showing its ugly side during labor talks]
Though the specifics aren't set, MLB’s latest written proposal reportedly called for a 60-game schedule, beginning on July 19. Players would receive their full salaries on a pro-rated basis — essentially the terms that MLB agreed to in a March deal with the union, removing the players' major objection to beginning the season. (The players asked for an 89-game season last week; a late-July start leaves approximately 70 days before the start of October.)
The big change would come after the shortened regular season: MLB’s playoff format would expand to 16 teams for both 2020 and 2021, leading up to the expiration of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement following the 2021 season.
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That last part would seem to benefit the Detroit Tigers, even if not this season or next.
While the playoff system would be negotiated in a new CBA for 2022 and beyond, it’s hard to see MLB reducing the postseason field if 2020 and 2021 go smoothly.
While a 16-team, anything-can-happen postseason seems appropriate for a season that wouldn't start until late July, it might draw fire from traditionalists, worried about expanded playoffs lessening the importance of a 162-game season.
Still, the Tigers are seemingly well-set for additional playoff rounds, assuming their rebuild gets them there; the organization's crop of top pitching prospects are raring to go, perhaps as soon as next season.
A 16-team format — an increase of three teams in each league from the current format — would put starting pitching a premium.
The Tigers have right-handers Matt Manning and Casey Mize and left-hander Tarik Skubal at the top of the system, as well as lesser-known prospects.
That depth could begin showing up in the majors as soon as next year — it’s not hard to envision a scenario in which multiple top pitchers and even this year’s No. 1 overall pick, Spencer Torkelson, play big roles in 2021.
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While those prospects may suffer a slight setback this year — the minor league baseball that would have provided valuable game-time repetitions is all but wiped out for this season — it's still conceivable that the Tigers' top prospects might need only a short stint at Triple-A Toledo to prove themselves. (Of note, at least two spots in the rotation will seemingly open up in 2021 with the expected departures of Jordan Zimmermann and Ivan Nova.)
The Tigers' wave of starting pitching is coming. Along with it, apparently, will come a lowered bar for postseason entry; last season's eighth-place team in the American League, the Texas Rangers, won just 78 games. And as always, any team can be dangerous in the postseason, especially with dominant starting pitching. Just ask the 2019 Washington Nationals, who won just 93 games — after going 19-31 to open the season — and then caught fire in October.
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That lowered bar, and the potential of a premium postseason payoff, further reduces the Tigers' reasons to delay the promotions of their prized pitching prospects.
The Tigers may not be winners yet, or even in a shortend 2020 season, but if Wednesday's reports of an expanded postseason come to pass, their odds of being winners in the future have taken an undoubted boost.
Contact Anthony Fenech at afenech@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @anthonyfenech. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.
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