The Los Angeles Dodgers will see the field this year as Major League Baseball (MLB) commissioner Rob Manfred announced a deal had been reached to move forward with the 2020 regular season.

A handful of details accompanied the announcement, as teams and league officials hammer out the final details of the return to play.

“Major League Baseball is thrilled to announce that the 2020 season is on the horizon,” said Manfred. “We have provided the Players Association with a schedule to play 60 games and are excited to provide our great fans with Baseball again soon.”

As of Monday, the season is expected to begin either July 23 or July 24, but a schedule has yet to be released. Players are scheduled to report for training camps July 1.

The proposed schedule is expected to largely feature divisional play, with the remaining portion of each Club’s schedule slated against their opposite league’s corresponding geographical division (for example NL West will play AL West and so on), in order to minimize travel requirements, according to the announcement. 

New health and safety protocols were agreed upon as part of the deal, including testing every other day for players, coaches and support staff throughout training camp, the regular season and postseason.

Other precautions put in place include requiring non-playing personnel to wear masks in the dugout and bullpen at all times; no spitting or chewing tobacco; no celebratory contact such as high fives, hugs, etc.; and team personnel and players unlikely to participate in the game will sit in the stands or other club designated area at least six feet apart.

In addition, a number of rule adjustments have been put in place for the shortened season, most notably that both the National League and American League will use the Designated Hitter rule.

Other changes include the following:

• Teams will open the season with a 30-man active roster; it will be reduced to 28 players after two weeks, then to 26 after four weeks.
• The Trade Deadline will be Aug. 31.
• To be eligible for the postseason, a player must be added to the Major League roster by Sept. 15.
• Teams will be permitted to carry up to three taxi-squad players on the road during the season, though if a team carries three such players, one must be a catcher.
• During extra-inning games in the regular season, each half-inning will begin with a runner on second base. The batter who made the final out in the previous inning (or a pinch-runner for that batter) would be that runner.
• There will be a 10-day injured list for both pitchers and hitters, though the 60-day IL will be reduced to a 45-day IL.
• There will be a separate IL for players who either test positive or have symptoms/confirmed exposure to COVID-19. There is no maximum or minimum days for this IL.
• MLB’s transaction freeze, which has been in place since the season was suspended, will end on Friday at 12 p.m. ET.

Commissioner Manfred’s full announcement is available here.

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