The Daily Chop: Possible May start date, Baseball Hall of Fame closing and more

While Major League Baseball postponed the start of the 2020 season by at least two weeks, many around the game believe that it is unlikely that the season will begin before May according to a report by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich. Of course a May start date would be contingent on the containment of the virus which at this point is an uncertain variable.

The further the start date is pushed back, then the more likely it is that the league will have to play some sort of a truncated schedule. That scenario in itself will cause plenty of discussion points between the league and the Player’s Association as Rosenthal and Drellich outline in their report.

With players free to leave spring training, it seems likely that teams would take part in another abbreviated spring camp before beginning the regular season. However, it is hard to speculate on what this season might look like with no clear road map visible at this point.

Braves News

Lost in the shuffle of Friday’s madness, the Braves made a couple of roster moves optioning reliever Patrick Weigel and catcher Alex Jackson to Triple-A Gwinnett.

Our own Garrett Spain kicked off a series where he predicts what Atlanta’s minor league rosters might look like. Up first is a closer look at the Rome Braves.

MLB News

The Baseball Hall of Fame announced Saturday that it will close to the public indefinitely beginning Sunday at 5 p.m. in response to the current global crisis surrounding the spread of the coronavirus.

The Nationals announced a series of roster moves on Saturday including the release of relievers Hunter Strickland and David Hernandez.