Expanded playoffs, Universal DH reportedly “dead issues” for 2021

Evan Drellich of the Athletic reported on Wednesday night that the expanded postseason and universal DH are “dead issues” for the MLB in 2021, with no future discussions planned on the subject.

I discussed in my article on the new rules for 2021 that these rules were still open to being added. While they still could be added at any point before the season starts, this seems increasingly unlikely as time goes on and with this report.

The owners and MLBPA continue to be unable to agree on issues without attempting to leverage the issue to get concessions from the other side. In this instance, it seems that the owners were unwilling to concede the universal DH without receiving a pretty huge chip in return, in the form of expanded playoffs. This comes despite the wide assumption that the universal DH will be included in the new CBA for 2022 and beyond, and pretty wide approval for the DH.