Pirates’ Jameson Taillon against neutral-site World Series

During a conference call with Pittsburgh media Monday afternoon, Jameson Taillon repeatedly asserted players were open to a myriad of possibilities aimed at salvaging as much of the 2020 MLB season as possible.

“Players,” the Pittsburgh Pirates union representative said, “will visit just about anything.”

There is one thing, though, that Taillon personally would loathe to concede in the wake of the temporary shutdown of the game out of concerns regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

“I haven’t talked to a lot of other players about it, but from my perspective if the city and Pittsburgh and the Pirates made the World Series — and we were not able to play in front of the fans in Pittsburgh? That could be pretty tough for a lot of people,” Taillon said in response to a question about reports a winter World Series could be held at a warm-weather locale. “I think that’s part of what makes baseball so special is playing in front of your fans.”

The idea of a neutral-site World Series increasingly has become a talking point since super-agent Scott Boras broached the idea publicly Saturday on ESPN. The thought of baseball’s postseason in December is far from an absurd one amidst the uncertainly and unprecedented nature of the covid-19 crisis.

Taillon said players almost universally agreed with the consensus that getting in as many of the 162 scheduled games as possible for each team is a priority when the season begins. That includes doubleheaders, the elimination of the All-Star break, the waiving of collectively bargained player protections such as limits on consecutive days with games played and more.

Taillon even said he understood the possible need for neutral-site regular-season games, citing the possibility some team’s cities could perhaps remain coronavirus hot spots longer than others.

His personal opposition to a World Series not played at the participating teams’ ballparks could resonate, though, for long-suffering fans of the Pirates, who have not had a World Series game played in Pittsburgh since 1979. Even with the Pirates a significant longshot to make it to the game’s biggest stage this season, Taillon said he recognized the importance home games could have for the host city, its fans and anyone associated with the organization.

“But as players,” Taillon said, “we’ll talk about everything on the table.”

That includes playing games in front of no fans or with expanded rosters. But the primary issue is the path to resuming the season that has yet to start. Pitchers would need about three weeks in “a second spring training,” Taillon said, and batters would need an acclimation period to see live pitching, too.

Taillon said players are open to holding Spring Training, Part II sessions in their MLB team’s home city or from their spring-training homes. He said the latter could be more likely because there are more mounds and batting cages and other facilities available.

Here are the details of the agreement Thursday between #MLB and the MLB Players Association and approved by teams Friday, as obtained by the Associated Press:https://t.co/WootSeaWY1

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) March 28, 2020

Taillon said players voted on the agreement reached last week between the players association and MLB regarding how pay, service time and other issues would be approached during the abbreviated or canceled season.

Players are being given advances on salary over the next month but only will be paid a prorated portion of their salary based on the number of games played in the season. No matter how many games are played in 2020, players will be credited with a full season of service time — the industry clock that determines eligibility for salary arbitration, free agency and pension, among other things.

“Service time for us was not really negotiable,” Taillon said. “We understood we had to give in some areas or compromise in some areas because of how the circumstances are where they are, but service time was something we thought could set us back for the foreseeable future. We weren’t willing to come off of our stance there.

“Everything else was compromised and negotiated, which I was happy to see.”

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