MLB COULD BE BACK BY JULY 24

After three months of frustrating and failed negotiations, Major League Baseball has implemented a 60-game season that is expected to begin by July 24th.

Players will head to training camps in a week after the league and the union agreed on health and safety protocols that will be in place amid the current pandemic.

The agreement features a number of new elements -- and the same 10-team playoff structure it has used for almost a decade.

Under the plan:

• Teams will play their four divisional opponents 10 times and each of the five interleague opponents in the same geographical area four games apiece.
• The National League will use a designated hitter.
• In extra innings, teams will begin with a runner on second base.
• The trade deadline will be Aug. 31, less than a month before the regular season is scheduled to end
• Rosters will start at 30 men for the first two weeks, then go to 28 for the next two weeks and stay at 26 for the remainder of the season.
• Teams will have a taxi squad that allows them to have as many as 60 players available to play in major league games.
• There will be a special COVID-19 injured list with no minimum or maximum length of time spent on it, while standard injured list stints will be for 10 days, and the typical 60-day stint will instead be for 45 days.