The Suspended MLB Season Will Affect These Teams The Most
When anything needs to get rescheduled, a change will always happen. Whether it's a positive or negative shift, you can bet something will happen. Thanks to the 2020 MLB season going into a hiatus until further notice, some teams might suffer, while others could benefit. For sure, both Los Angeles teams will have to figure some stuff out, but what about the Orioles and Red Sox? We can't say for sure, but after you read this, you'll be able to put the pieces together on who will get impacted by the suspended season the most!
The Philadelphia Phillies
Many thought the Phillies would be competitive in 2019, but that wasn't the case. They finished at exactly .500 (81-81), and GM Matt Klentak didn't cease to stack the roster a year after giving Bryce Harper the richest deal in history at the time.
"If the season is canceled, that's one very valuable year out of its window completely gone," NBC Sports Bill Baer added. "That is, even more, the case upon realizing that catcher J.T. Realmuto, arguably the best player at his position in baseball right now, is a free agent going into 2021."
The Cincinnati Reds
After a season in 2019 that was better than their record indicated, the Reds improved their roster to have an even greater 2020. Sadly, it looks like those hopes and dreams might be hard to achieve now.
"As a result of a roster on the come-up, the Reds bolstered the roster, even more, picking up free agents Nick Castellanos and Mike Moustakas," Baer continued. "Moustakas will be 32, and Castellanos will be 29. It's a pretty big deal to miss 25 percent of their contracts in what are, on average, the seasons likeliest to be their best."
The Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers made a big trade with the Red Sox, which gave them 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts and David Price for Conner Wong, Alex Verdugo, and Jeter Downs. Getting Mookie Betts is a massive upgrade to an already loaded roster. Unfortunately, Betts becomes a free-agent after the 2020 season.
"If the season is canceled, the Dodgers very well may have given up three good young players and taken on a lot of salary for basically nothing," Baer added. "They'll get to keep Price, who is under contract for two more years after this, but that's no consolation."
The Baltimore Orioles
Beyond the fact that some of Baltimore's top prospects have to wait to compete in the minors, the Orioles don't need extra time waiting around. Chris Davis was on a streak before things went into hiatus.
Davis' two previous seasons were terrible, but he was going bonkers in Florida with only three strikeouts in nine spring games. Could he have kept up that pace heading into the season? We don't know, but the hiatus isn't helping one bit.
The Detroit Tigers
Wondering who will and will not debut in the 2020 season is something every team has to wonder. For the Detroit Tigers, their main concerns are their two pitching prospects, Casey Mize and Matt Manning (both have never pitched about Double-A).
It's a wait and see game to find out if they get moved up. Also, they have this other player Miguel Cabrera. The longer the pause on the season, the harder it is for Cabrera to get 3,000 hits.
The Seattle Mariners
Having 250-1 odds at winning the World Series isn't all that great. The Mariners have a solid group of core pitchers that would help during a shortened season, but that's about all they have going for them.
With Taijuan Walker and Kendall Graveman both attempting to find themselves again after serious injuries, the team becomes a bit vulnerable. Justus Sheffield, a coveted prospect, had his only proven workhorse season in 2019 when he threw 169 innings across three tiers. Hopefully, that momentum doesn't slow down.
The Miami Marlins
What's the worst that can happen with the Miami Marlins during this sensitive time? Well, they recently added a bunch of veterans like Corey Dickerson, Jesus Aguilar, and Matt Joyce to get some more pop on their roster.
Will the shortened season translate to more playing time for the vets, or will the hold off hinder their performance? If it's the latter, will we see more playing time for Harold Ramirez or Lewis Brinson? Too many questions for the Marlins to try and figure out right now.
The Kansas City Royals
With the late hopefully start, the Kansas City Royals have a chance to get some of their injured players back into the fold. The only issue with that is determining what to do with players on the cusp of getting into the rotation.
We're talking about Kris Bubic, Brady Singer, and Daniel Lynch. Singer is the one who looked the most promising, but there's no telling if the Royals will unleash everyone or not now.
The Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates have a slew of new sheriffs in town. A new general manager in Ben Cherington and a new manager with Derek Shelton. The team was hoping for a little luck after a 93-loss season, but now they have to wait a little longer to see if their stars shine.
Supposedly, this was a rebuilding year for the Pirates, but that becomes harder given the hiatus. Hopefully, their veteran pitchers Keone Kela and Chris Archer will have rebound seasons, but no one knows for sure!
The San Francisco Giants
The odds for the San Francisco Giants to win the World Series are 100-1. Their outlook wasn't spectacular, and this hold up doesn't make the picture prettier for them. One thing they can look forward to is the return of Pablo Sandoval, who had Tommy John surgery with an expected return date of mid-May.
Unfortunately, they didn't have a grasp on the closer situation in San Fran either, but it looks like Tony Watson might win that job. Also, to prospect Joey Bart was expected to get a mid-season call-up, but now he might spend the year in the minors.
The Colorado Rockies
For the Colorado Rockies, a shortened season heightens the possibility of trading Nolan Arenado. The start of the season determines what they do with Arenado, who is not happy that the team failed to add pieces to contend in the offseason.
If the Rockies decide this is a lost season, then they will likely trade him and start to retool the organization. Only time will solve this issue for a team that went 71-91 for the 2019 season.
The Toronto Blue Jays
While the Toronto Blue Jays did bolster their rotation with winter deals, they still won't have an ace in their rotation until prospect Nate Pearson comes around. Pearson looked fabulous during spring training, but he's yet to make an impact at the big league level.
With that, it looked like a sure thing that Pearson would make an appearance mid-season. The later games get pushed back, the less time the Blue Jays have to use a rotation that doesn't involve their best performers.
The Texas Rangers
The bad news for the Rangers before things got shut down was that Willie Calhoun cracked his jaw thanks to a fastball during spring training. That means the delay gives him the chance to recover before things pick up.
We don't know how long that could take or if the season will resume before he's healthy, but the Texas Rangers have 60-1 odds to win the World Series. They better hope he's ready for the first game!
The San Diego Padres
We hated to see it, but right before the season went on pause, Andres Munoz underwent Tommy John surgery, ending any hopes he had to pitch in 2020. He averaged 99.9 mph on his fastball in 2019.
Now, the Padres have to figure out something else more important. How will they manage the arrival of MacKenzie Gore? The top prospect has only five starts above Class A, but scouts believe he's ready for the big leagues.
The Boston Red Sox
Thanks to sheer randomness, the Boston Red Sox might be in a higher position than most. They haven't had much playoff success in recent years and trading away Mookie Betts only hurt their 2020 hopes.
Not only that, but Chris Sale had season-ending elbow surgery as well. This shortened season might help them a bit, but they still have rather thin rotation. With a record of 84-78 last year, there's no telling what will happen once the season resumes.
The Chicago White Sox
In a shortened season, we foresee only positive outcomes for the Chicago White Sox in an ideal world. Their idealized lineup would benefit greatly the longer things get delayed, and that would only increase their playoff hopes.
The White Sox have Michael Kopech returning from Tommy John surgery, so his reps would go up. There are also the younger players such as Reynaldo Lopez and Dylan Cease looking to play more innings. Oh yeah, Carlos Rodon looks to make a return as well.
The Arizona Diamondbacks
There isn't much to worry about in Arizona outside of the spring training injury sustained by Mike Leake. He fractured his non-throwing wrist and became questionable for Opening Day. Now it looks like he'll be ready when things pick up!
The only thing is, the Diamondbacks rotation puts him 5th in that ranking, so they didn't need his services as much. Arizona also doesn't have to monitor the elbow of Luke Weaver as closely any more thanks to the halt in games.
The Milwaukee Brewers
We have another team that could possibly be better off as the longer the season stays on pause. The Brewers picked up Luis Urias from the Padres during the off-season to play shortstop, but he broke his hamate bone during winter play.
Questionable for Opening Day, Urias could play right away once baseball resumes. He would play over Orlando Arcia, a player who averaged a .610 OPS in the last two seasons. Fans would rather have Urias.
The Los Angeles Angels
The Angels have to focus on getting Shohei Ohtani ready as a two-way player before the season picks back up. That's crucial for the Los Angeles Angels, even when they have superstar Mike Trout on the roster.
If Ohtani comes back in time ready to play lights out, the Angels have a chance to be one of the best teams in MLB. Let's hope we don't have to wait until 2021 to watch that happen!
The St. Louis Cardinals
With Miles Mikolas and Andrew Miller both questionable for Opening Day, leaving room for Carlos Martinez to get into the rotation, things look different now. Mikolas will more than likely suit up for the first game and Martinez will return to the back-burner.
Also, during spring training, the Cardinals got to witness a pretty sharp Kwang-Hyun Kim. He had eight scoreless innings, but St. Louis didn't get to see him go against tougher competition.
