After the MLBPA’s proposal was promptly declined, MLB has proposed a season that would be around 50 games which just isn’t enough.
Good news! MLB came back with a proposal in a rather short period of time. Bad news! It stinks. The proposal includes a season that would be around 50 games according to Jeff Passan.
This comes after the 114-game proposal from the players was rejected. The amount of games proposed from the players seemed a bit high, but there has to be something closer to 80 games that they can agree upon. 50 games just isn’t enough.
50 games is just short enough for a team to get off to a fluky start and get into the playoffs when they clearly don’t belong. Take the 2015 Detroit Tigers for example, they started off hot and were 14-6 through their first 20 games. Detroit found themselves 28-22 through 50 games, just two games behind eventual World Series Champion Kansas City. Minnesota was also 30-20 through 50 games, eventually finishing second in the division. Their hot start proved to be a mirage as the bottom eventually fell out and the Tigers ended up in last place in the American League Central.
Sometimes teams get off to bad starts. A perfect example is the reigning World Series Champion Washington Nationals. Washington seemed to be dead in the water at 19-31 and in dead last in the National League Central. Thanks to a long enough season the Nats were able to finish at 93-69 and make the playoffs and eventually defeat the Astros in the World Series.
What it comes down to is having enough games to sort through the hot and bad starts. Baseball can be weird sometimes with teams playing above and below their skill levels, luckily the season is long enough for water to find its level. A season that is too short can result in teams that do not deserve to be in the postseason making it while teams that are superior sitting at home. If MLB wants to avoid an asterisk situation a 50-game season simply cannot happen. They need to have a significantly longer season in order to crown a proper champion.
