Baseball Is Back! Here Are Our Thoughts…

The news that we have been waiting to hear since March is finally here! Baseball is coming back in less than one month! While other sports like NASCAR, UFC, and professional soccer around the world have already returned, millions of baseball fans will finally get their favorite sport back!

After months of debating and counteroffers, there are still some things to figure out before the 60-game season begins including health and safety conditions because of the COVID-19 pandemic. While we still wait to see if fans will be able to watch the games in person or not, the league decided to have games played at each team’s respective home stadium.

All of us here at The Bullpen are very excited about this upcoming season, even if it’s not a full 162-game season. Below are some of our individual opinions starting with one of our marketing managers, Heather Barette, who is undoubtedly the biggest Dodgers fan you will ever meet.

“Look, I’m just as excited as the next person that baseball is (seemingly) back, but let’s be real, I won’t be fully satisfied until I see Mookie Betts in Dodger Blue standing in that batter’s box. I mean, if we’re being honest, Dodger fans – we had the most to lose if this season was lost. Needless to say, I’m glad the players and the owners could FINALLY come to terms, even if we only get to see 60 regular season games in 2020. And if a shortened season is what it takes for the Dodgers to hoist that Commissioner’s Trophy at the end of it all, then so be it – let’s do this!”

– Heather Barette, Marketing Manager

Our other marketing manager, Charles Dunkin, is excited about baseball coming back, but is also concerned about playing during a global pandemic.

“After hearing many disputes back and forth between the MLB and the MLBPA, it looks like we have the green light for a modified 60-game season! However, the biggest problem has still yet to be considered. How will either party respond if the curve begins to turn? With a number of positive tests coming to light in the baseball-verse the past week, it is clear that the MLB will be battling the pandemic as much as they have battled the MLBPA over the past few months.

For now, sports will be set to resume as if they are a newborn baby, cared for and protected 24/7, with no one else around, but the people they trust… no one. Spring training is set to start in just about a week, and we can only hope that we all have something to be happy about when the first pitch is thrown.”

– Charles Dunkin, Marketing Manager

Eric Bernstein, a fellow contributor here, is very hopeful for the other Los Angeles team to finally advance to the postseason.

“It’s been a long dreadful start to the summer, but finally we can have some baseball to watch! As an Angels fan, I’m looking forward to what Mike Trout will do with a bat like Rendon in the lineup to protect him. Maybe all of this extra time off will finally help Pujols have a healthy season. With only a 60-game season to worry about, we might finally see our pitching staff avoid Tommy John surgery for a season! It has been a rough few years for our pitching staff. Wishful thinking, with healthy pitching, and an offense that should score a lot of runs, maybe we can be playoff bound in this shortened season.”

– Eric Bernstein, Contributor

Another one of our contributors, Sebastian Moore, who is a huge baseball fan, is a little skeptical about how the upcoming season came to be. Prepare for a hot take!

“At long last, baseball is back. But at what cost? The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the true colors of the MLB and the MLBPA. Everything revolves around money. Before I start my rant about the disastrous “negotiations” between the MLB and MLBPA, I want to state this with absolute clarity: Both sides lost in the negotiations. 

Both the players and owners were greedy. From the players’ side, I agree with them. Health and safety, especially during a global pandemic, should be the first priority. But beyond that, why get hung up about the money? There are several players currently making over $200 million per season, and many more making the league minimum of $563,500. I feel for those players making under a million per year. But at the same time, it won’t keep me up at night either, many people have it much worse. Several MLB players are already, or have received in the past, more money per year than the average American worker. I mean, the qualifying offer (the average salary of the top 125 highest paid players) for the 2019-20 season was $17.8 million. The players could have been more willing to take a pay cut for one season or even settle for deferrals, especially those who signed mega contracts. 

On the owners’ end, baseball is a multi-billion-dollar industry. Paying the players a couple of extra hundred million of dollars to risk their health and safety is pocket change to the owners. This is the sport millions of people love, and for a select few, how they pay the bills. For the Gerrit Coles, the Max Scherzers, the Gavin Luxs, and even the Blake Snells of the MLB, taking a pay cut means almost nothing. But seeing another year of Mike Trout do Mike Trout things, Cole debuting in pinstripes, and Mookie Betts switching leagues should have been valued more than any dollar amount an organization can write on a check.

I grew up watching, playing, and loving baseball, but after how both the MLB and MLBPA handled the negotiations of the 2020 season, I have lost hope, respect, and faith in the sport’s future. As a fan, I am beyond thrilled that baseball is coming back, I have never gone this long without watching a live game. But I ask myself the same question, what was the cost to bring baseball back?”

Sebastian Moore, Contributor

Our beloved founder, Aaron Perez, is thrilled about baseball coming back and is more thrilled with how The Bullpen team worked during the long offseason.

“Since we were children, baseball always came around in March and we were ready for action! Seeing our favorite players run out of the dugout, hop over the foul line, and run across the diamond as a team for the first time was exhilarating. It made us all feel together. But 2020 was a unique year, and we didn’t see that spring to action like before. Instead we all stood at home, waiting patiently for our nation to mend its wounds, negotiations to be through, and our favorite sport to return. And so, after months of waiting, here we are… together again

I am extremely happy baseball is returning, and even more happy with our brand and my teammates. I want to give them a shout out for sticking through these tough times, for providing fantastic content even when the resources were scarce, and for working extremely hard when everyone told them to relax and give up.

In our future history book, we will look back at this year and remember who we are and remember the true definition of teamwork. Thank you for sticking with The Bullpen these last few months, it’s been a pleasure having you on our team, and we can’t wait to show you what we have in store for you… Now, play ball!”

Aaron Perez, Founder/CEO

As for me, I cannot be more thrilled than I am right now for baseball to come back. Normally I would be happy to see the Yankees play 162 games, but now I’m super excited about every team playing 60 games. Last week my dad told me about his dad’s philosophy on baseball. My grandfather believed that the reason MLB is not the most popular league in the world is because 162 games was too many and that winning every game didn’t matter. 

Other leagues like the NFL are more popular because those teams look to win all 16 games. In a way, he’s right. In 16 games, every team has a chance to make the playoffs. Now that this season is only 37% of a whole season and that more teams will make the playoffs, every team has a chance to make the playoffs including teams that usually don’t do well in 162 games like the Detroit Tigers and Miami Marlins. With that, the 2020 season will be the most anticipated and possibly the most watched season in MLB history!