Major League Baseball wants to play as many games as possible when it starts play after the coronavirus pandemic has subsided. That could push the World Series back quite late in the calendar year, which might not be a popular decision.
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw told “Lunchtime with Roggin and Rodney” on AM 570 LA Sports that he thinks a World Series in late November or December would be “iffy” and could negatively impact the 2021 season.
“I think once you start getting into playing longer in the year, that starts affecting next year. I think you get a little risky the further you go in the season,” Kershaw said, via Mark Townsend of Yahoo Sports. “I think expanding it maybe a couple weeks on the back end, but if you go any further than that, you start talking about Thanksgiving and December for a World Series, that gets a little iffy, in my opinion.”
Thanksgiving has been cited as just about the latest MLB would be willing to conclude the 2020 World Series, but even that pushes Kershaw’s timeline. What we don’t know is whether other players share his view, but that’s the agreement that the league and the MLBPA reached. Ultimately, much will be dictated by when the 2020 season actually starts, if it begins at all.
