After suspending games due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Major League Baseball (MBL) will reopen its 2020 regular season next month.

MLB League Commissioner Rob Manfred was ecstatic to announce that the commission and the MBL Players Association finally found common ground after a month of jostling, the CNN reported.

Manfred noted that the 2020 MBL regular season will open on "July 23 or 24."

What Will Be the Format Now

It's all fingers crossed for everyone with the 2020 season scheduled for 60 games.

The new format will consist of each team going against their four-division rivals for 10 games.

They will also go against each of the five clubs of the other league that belongs to their respective division.

With this being MLB's shortest season, each team is only allowed to visit another team's city once, according to CBS 12. 

Other details include:

  • The new addition of having extra innings with the second base having a runner.
  • It's still down to 10 teams for the playoffs.
  • August 31 will be the deadline for trading players, while September 15 is the deadline for postseason eligibility.

  • The first two weeks of the season will have an active roster of 30. This will then be followed by 28 on the second two weeks and 26 after that.

  • What was originally intended for having a 28-man roster on September 1 is now scrapped.

Players Getting Infected

The announcement of an altered season came, while many MLB players and staff test positive for COVID-19 as reported by Yahoo! Sports.

Five players and three staff members from the Philadephia Phillies all tested positive for the coronavirus.

For the Toronto Blue Jays, one of their players from their 40-man roster suddenly showed symptoms of having the virus.

Reaching a Consensus

The MLB proposed that players' salaries will not only be prorated, but will also be based on the times the player has played.

MLB wanted to reduced the pay to about $1 billion, which made the players not to give in, and instead demand a full prorated pay, plus a 114-game schedule that will add up to $2.8 billion, according to 93.3 The Drive.

According to Sports Illustrated, the MLB never had a firm proposal on how to maintain a safety net for the teams and their staff if the season pushes through despite the pandemic.

One of the earliest plans was the concept of having them played in a "quarantine bubble," wherein they will be locked-up for about four months.

The whole concept, however, didn't sit well as it will locked-up players in a hotel and stadiums and also lose sponsorships.

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