Bryce Harper proposed a pretty elaborate plan that he’s been tinkering with regarding the return of Major League Baseball.
The league has already hopes to begin an 82-game season that begins July 4, but of course, that’s at the mercy of the virus.
So the Philadelphia Phillies superstar shared his plan for a 135-game season in the early hours of Saturday via his Instagram. That’s because of course, he wants to make every dime of his contract, and many players weren’t happy with the revenue plan the league hoped to pass.
Harper suggests the season squeezes 135 games into just 138 days between July and November, with teams playing for 13-game stretches, always leading up to seven-inning double-headers on Sundays. Every other Monday is an off day, and you repeat from there.
The season would finish off with a 10-team round robin-style postseason over the course of two weeks. The World Series would be a traditional seven-game series, even if the journey to get there was anything but.
However, it goes beyond a totally revamped format. Drastically different than the MLB’s proposed new divisions, Harper calls for splitting the league up between the east and west, like the NBA. That likely was a nod to cut down on travel, though the West might not benefit as much.
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And his solution to the fatigue that would come from fitting in all those games is expanding the rosters from 25 to 30 players, with a six-man starting rotation and potentially a universal DH.
Oh, and Harper wants to make it so anyone in the world can tune in on all platforms, without blackouts.
“Then you back up season the next 2 years,” Harper suggested. “May 1st 2021. April 1st 2022. Maybe I’m crazy. Just fun to think about and throw around ideas.”
He’s open to a centralized location, like “at the new Texas Stadium or whatever stadium/stadiums are best.”
Or, he offered up his native Las Vegas to house players on the strip.
