Baseball may not be coming back for a full regular season in 2021. According to a report from Tim Brown, MLB has proposed a 154-game schedule this year, which would include delaying Opening Day by a month. This comes after the Cactus League requested a delay to the start of Spring Training, as the United States still deals with well over 100,000 new cases of COVID-19 every day.
One of the big concerns for players is taking a pay cut, after they received heavily prorated salaries in 2020. But according to a Jon Heyman report, players would be paid for an entire 162-game season, even though they’re really falling eight games short. And for those concerned that missing those eight games— or any more if the league has to deal with postponements again— could affect competitive balance, the plan also involves an expanded playoff field. Heyman's report says this 154-game plan also includes a universal DH. However Heyman reported last week that the players union has already rejected a plan in which MLB would concede a universal DH to the players union in exchange for an expanded playoff field.
The Cubs and White Sox have yet to set a date for pitchers and catcher to report to camp, which is typically the first step in Spring Training. Both teams currently have Opening Day scheduled for Apr. 1.
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