MLB should consider uneven schedule due to COVID-19 cancellations

MLB can consider allowing teams to play a different number of games in 2020.

The Miami Marlins were the first MLB team to suffer a COVID-19 outbreak and it took one series. While it is easy to say this was inevitable, it brings up a situation where one or more teams may have to be quarantined until further notice.

The plan was to play 60 games in under 70 days, and there is already a lack of time to play make-up games. The players need some normal days off factored in and there is also the potential of rainouts. Needing to cancel a full series or more does not have to disqualify a team from the season. Instead, the league could use an idea from the past that was brought up by ESPN’s Buster Olney.

MLB can get creative

Olney cites the 1981 season in which the schedule was split in two because of a strike that lasted from mid-June through July. The final standings from that year are bizarre, and fans will notice final totals that don’t match up from team to team. That is because the season was split into two uneven halves and winning percentage was used to determine the top teams.

This idea may sound blasphemous to some fans. A team not leading the division in wins and still taking home the pennant? While initially odd, it may be necessary in what is already an insane season.

The Marlins will have several games cancelled this week and it just may not be possible to make those up, especially if the team takes more than two or three days off.

Having an expanded postseason would help this idea gain a bit more acceptance from fans. However, the approval of fans doesn’t seem to matter to those in charge anyway, so that idea is not too important.

The labor battle that took place for months between the players and the owners already put the season on a strict timeline. Waiting until the last second usually does that.

The 1981 World Series saw the Los Angeles Dodgers take down the New York Yankees in six games. The Dodgers played 110 regular season games and the Yankees played 107. Dodgers fans surely remember the championship more than the fact the team had to play a few more games than other teams.

A 60-game season already provides plenty of uncertainty and chances for rebuilding teams to potentially sneak into the postseason. If a team plays 55 games and another plays a full 60, is that really the end of the world? Just finishing a regular season would be a major accomplishment at this point.

Fans can deal with more quirks during this 2020 season that will go down in history, whether it is completed or not.