St. Louis Cardinals: The DH shouldn’t be part of the plan for 2020

Every plan for the St. Louis Cardinals’ return to 2020 has involved the DH. The current pandemic should not be grounds for adding this to the NL.

Before the delays and all the change that this spring brought, there were many reports over the offseason that were about the MLB’s plans for what they wanted to bring to the game in the future. The two biggest changes discussed were a 14-team playoff and adding the DH to the National League. From the point of view of the St. Louis Cardinals’ fanbase, there are some strong opinions about these options.

In a vacuum, these ideas had their own downfalls and benefits, but the general thought about them was that they were things that were going to be discussed down the road, and that they were things that mostly Rob Manfred and his camp wanted, not necessarily something the players’ side wanted.

So why is it that each proposed plan for how the 2020 season could return has both of these major changes to the game included? How does that make sense?

There are hurdles that any plan for the 2020 season would have to pass over, but it seems as though the inclusion of these two changes are an eventuality.

I’ve mentioned it before, but the more I think about it, the more it is just clearly wrong. Rob Manfred seems to be utilizing the uncertainty to move forward the MLB’s agenda for where they want the game to go.

Does anyone think that’s right?

The changes could just be for this season, but the barrier to getting these changes implemented as quickly and permanently as possible is to sneak them in with the plan for 2020. Once they are in, it may be tough to get them out again.

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The Player’s Union needs to be careful about what concessions they make to make the 2020 season happen because if they aren’t, we could get a very different game in 2021 than what we had in 2019.

I am not saying I’m vehemently against either of these changes, I am not saying I don’t think these changes are coming eventually. What I’m saying is that I am completely against the current pandemic being used to further this agenda of the MLB.

When discussing a change like expanding rosters to 29 men for the first month, that makes perfect sense because pitchers won’t be at full strength.

There is no part of the DH being in both leagues that is a necessary change to make the game playable in 2020. If there was, I’d be okay with it. It’s for that reason that it’s clear the MLB is using the delay to further their longterm plans. That’s not okay.

The DH could help the St. Louis Cardinals in some ways, but it is the pure principle of how it is being thrust upon the league that I have a problem with. It’s not fair, the Union can’t let it happen.