Texas Rangers GM Jon Daniels on MLB Season: "I'm Optimistic That We'll Play"
The baseball season hangs in the balance as Major League Baseball and the Players Association continue to negotiate a plan that will allow the season to get underway.
In a conference call with local reporters on Tuesday, Texas Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels chimed in on which way he feels those negotiations are trending.
"I'm optimistic, personally," Daniels said. "I think it's pretty clear there's two major topics that need to be addressed sufficiently...but I'm optimistic that we'll play. Obviously, we've got to continue to follow public data trends from a health standpoint."
Atop those two major topics are the health and safety protocols that will minimize and prevent COVID-19 exposure to players, coaches, and other non-playing personnel. The other major topic is the economic structure that the owners and players seem pretty distant on for the time being.
MLB has already sent a proposal to the Players Association outlining health and safety protocols, which include some significantly strict limitations. Among those restrictions are no high-fiving, no spitting, and no use of smokeless tobacco or sunflower seeds. New balls will be issued every time one is put into play and lineup cards will not be distributed in-person. All non-playing personnel will be required to wear masks.
Despite the criticism some of the restrictions have gotten publicly, Daniels isn't too worried about coming to a reasonable solution on a few of the on-the-field restrictions, namely high-fiving.
"I don't personally think that's going to be a major issue," Daniels said. "We've had fist bumps and the Bash Brothers elbow bash. I know that's gotten a bunch of attention, but I think we can move through that pretty quickly."
Daniels did mention that the biggest challenge in terms of safety is going to be on the road. Differing variables like air travel, hotel stays, food, and visiting clubhouse logistics will provide a laundry list of challenges the Rangers and every visiting team in baseball will have to face.
In an effort to aid MLB in working through different health and safety guidelines, Daniels said the Rangers are providing MLB with player feedback on some of these protocols.
"Everybody has two or three different points that stand out that either they have additional questions on or they think will be particularly challenging," Daniels said. "Some they think are realistic for us to abide by and some are less realistic."
Currently, MLB is allowing teams to decide for themselves where they would want to hold an abbreviated spring training to prepare for the season. If that holds throughout these negotiations, Daniels said the plan is to hold "Spring Training 2.0" in Arlington.
"I think it's going to be a huge resource for us," Daniels said of Globe Life Field. "One of the critical pieces here is being able to space people out responsibly and safely. We're going to have as much or more space than anybody in brand new, clean, state-of-the-art facilities."
The Rangers don't plan on only utilizing Globe Life Field for an abbreviated spring training. They also see a way to use some of the facilities at their former home of 26 seasons, Globe Life Park.
"It's a turf football field at this point, but we can get our throwing program over there, we can take batting practice over there, we can use the weight room there," Daniels said. "There's quite a bit we can do across the street."
Daniels also mentioned they've had some very informal talks with other teams about playing one or two exhibition games, but is still not sure if it's something they are going to pursue.
"I don't think it's all that important," Daniels said. "I think we'll be able to get our guys enough live looks at each other through intrasquad [games], live BP, or different scenarios."
There's plenty to keep Jon Daniels and the front office busy as the season hopefully draws near. With the calendar now in the latter half of May, it would be remiss of them to not keep one eye on the future.
The Rangers have a few expiring contracts, including Mike Minor, Shin-Soo Choo, and Danny Santana. While they haven't approached anyone about an extension, it's not something that is completely off their radar.
"We've had a few conversations internally about it," Daniels said. "There's still so many unknowns — what the rules are going to be, what the economics of the game and our own organization are going to look like — so, it's really premature for us to focus too much time there."
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