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Anthony Rizzo wants MLB schedule to be shorter

League Championship Series - Los Angeles Dodgers v Chicago Cubs - Game Three

CHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 17: Anthony Rizzo #44 of the Chicago Cubs warms up before game three of the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Wrigley Field on October 17, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

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Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo thinks baseball’s 162-game schedule is too long, ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reports. Rizzo said during an appearance on ESPN 1000, “I think we play too much baseball. Yes, guys are going to take pay cuts. But are we playing this game for the money or do we love this game? I know it’s both, but in the long run it will make everything better.”

Rizzo was just activated from the disabled list and is in Tuesday’s lineup against the Cardinals. Temperatures in Chicago around game time (8:05 PM ET) are expected to be around 36 degrees. “I think playing in the cold sucks. I was thinking about this the other day. When you think of Cubs and Cardinals, you think of a beautiful Saturday at Wrigley Field. You don’t think about playing in 20 degrees,” Rizzo said.

If the season can’t be shortened, Rizzo would at least like to have the regular season start later. He said, “In a perfect world, we’d start the season later and play a few scheduled doubleheaders going into an off day. As a fan you’re going to a baseball game in April, and it’s raining, snowing and [with] freezing rain. Is it really that much fun? That’s my question.”

Not only will the players likely take pay cuts if the season were to be shortened, baseball team owners would see a marked decline in revenues. At least one of two things would happen as a result of that: staff would be cut (front office and otherwise), and prices (tickets, concessions, et. al.) would increase.

As a player, Rizzo shouldn’t even be suggesting that the players would take a pay cut. That would obviously need to be collectively bargained, but saying it hypothetically already creates an expectation that that should happen. The season could be shortened and players wouldn’t have to take pay cuts if they were to successfully negotiate as such. In other words: don’t give ownership any ideas.

The players bargained for more off-days in the last round of negotiations for the CBA, which came at the cost of starting the season earlier. Having the season start later might come at the cost of those off-days. It also might simply rearrange when players experience inclement weather as temperatures in October can dip quite low as well. Rizzo’s idea about more scheduled double-headers is unlikely to be accepted by the player’s union because of the added injury risk.

Shortening the schedule isn’t a new idea, but it’s one that has been gaining traction as a result of the abnormally disruptive weather to start the season. Rizzo conceded as much, saying, “This is kind of a freak April.” Given that most stadiums don’t have roofs, shortening the schedule and starting the season later are two short-term ideas to work around inclement weather. But in the grand scheme of things, it may take every new stadium having a roof to fix that issue.

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