MLB FanPulse: How many games do we need to have a meaningful season?

While we all continue to experience a summer without baseball, speculation about a potential season continues to exist. While the most important thing for the country at the moment is getting through the coronavirus pandemic, hopefully we can see some sort of mid-summer return of the game we all love so much.

A shortened season was again the subject of this week’s SB Nation FanPulse voting. The first question asked how many games will need to be played for it to be a meaningful season. The results were close with 40.13% of the responses answering 80+ followed by 39.8% at 100+ games. I think it is safe to say that everyone involved wants to see as many games as possible but given the situation I will take however many games we can get and be happy with it.

The next question centered on the recent changes to the MLB Draft which essentially allows the league to set the length anywhere from five to 40 rounds. Most reporting suggests that we will likely see a five round draft later this summer. As a result, 53% of FanPulse voters responded that a five-round draft wasn’t enough while 41% said yes that it does make sense to hold only a five-round draft. Six percent of the voters said they should cancel the event all together.

The results to the next question were a little bit surprising for me. While 65% of voters answered yes that there needs to be another spring training 35% said no. I don’t understand how anyone who voted no thinks that the players are supposed to get ready for a truncated season without another spring training. This seems obvious to me and it doesn’t matter if we are talking about an 80-game regular season or more.

The next question asked whether there would be an All-Star game in a shortened 2020 season? Seventy-four percent of the voters answered no and I tend to agree given that I simply don’t know how they would be able to work it in. I know some have suggested beginning the season with it but in my opinion doing so would take up days where they could be playing meaningful games.

Our final question centered on something that I don’t think has been discussed enough. If the 2020 season happens and it ends much later than normal, should MLB delay the 2021 season. Unsurprisingly, 80% of voters answered no to this question but I think it deserves more consideration. I don’t think the 2021 season would need to be drastically altered but you could potentially arrive a week later at spring training or begin the regular season a week later to compensate. Whatever the decision is, I think player health needs to be taken into account.

That is it for this week. Let us know what you think in the comments below. FanPulse voting will continue hopefully throughout the 2020 season so get on board and head over to this link to get signed up!