Tony Gutierrez / Associated Press
Major League Baseball and its Players Association have an agreement in place on health and safety protocols for the coming season.
Joel Sherman of New York Post reported the news on Monday and noticed the pact includes seven-entry doubleheaders, as there were during the 2020 campaign. There will also be modified modified entries with runners starting on second base in an effort to avoid marathon games during the regular season.
There will be no designated universal hitter like there was last season.
The fact that an agreement was signed in February is a drastic improvement over last year, when the two sides debated for months on a number of topics, including the length of the season, whether players’ contracts would be prorated, how many teams would do the playoffs and whether the National League would also use designated hitters.
It was not until June 23 that the MLBPA announced the two sides reached an agreement for a season of 60 games.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic was undoubtedly a complicating factor in last year’s negotiations, the long comings and goings delayed the season even more and generated a lot of frustration.
As for this year’s agreement, Hannah Keyser Yahoo Sports noted that the union was in favor of the universally designated hitter, while the league was not.
The league said it was not a health and safety issue. A likely reason why the union wants to expand the HD rule is because it would create more job opportunities.
Sherman he also reported that there will be tracking technology in place similar to the one the NBA uses to help identify close contacts if there is a positive COVID-19 test.
When the season begins, the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers will attempt to defend the World Series title they won in six games against the Tampa Bay Rays.