Elephant Rumblings: Looking for bright sides during a tough time

Good morning, Athletics Nation!

The last couple months have been a tough time for baseball, just as they have been for everyone else in the country/world. We’ve already lost around 50 games from the normal MLB schedule, with no firm plan for when they’ll start again. The league and players are all losing a ton of money in the meantime. The best plans for moving forward are still bad.

But for every storm cloud, there are some silver linings. In her column for the S.F. Chronicle, Susan Slusser identifies a few of those bright sides. In particular, she points out that some of the emergency alterations to the sport’s normal routines could prove to be positive long-term changes.

Slusser mentions a variety of topics, from realignment to territorial TV rights to players spitting. Check it out to read the details!

Personally, one of my favorite proposed changes is the universal DH. I’ll get into it more in a future post, but the bottom line is this: I don’t mind the NL not having the DH because it doesn’t affect my team much and a little bit of quirkiness makes life fun, but I also think that having the DH is the better way to go by a wide margin. It’s probably inevitable that the two leagues will match up their rules at some point, so let’s make sure we land on the right side of it, with the DH all around.

If you’re going to click one other link today besides Slusser, check out Bob Nightengale at USA Today. He doesn’t want to see a 2020 season scuttled by economic squabbles, and I agree with him. It’s one thing if health is the issue, but if everyone agrees it’s safe to play then the two sides simply cannot let money get in the way.

A’s Coverage:

• Slusser: MLB’s coronavirus proposals might feature a few positive changes
• Henden: FAQ: An Update on the 2020 Stockton Ports
• Hickey: Who Among the Athletics Gets Biggest Boost From Going to a 30-Man Roster?
• Hickey: After Being on the COVID-19 Diet, Ex-Athletics Manager Art Howe Hungry For Baseball
• Dierkes: Which 15 Players Should The Athletics Protect In An Expansion Draft?
• Hall and Tafoya: How Billy Martin revitalized the Oakland A’s in 1980

MLB News & Interest:

• Nightengale (opinion): MLB and players must play ball and immediately settle economic dispute
• Rosenthal: Here’s how 5 team execs would change MLB’s proposed safety protocols ($$$)
• MLB: Dream Bracket 2 begins today. See the matchups
• Lupica: Player of the century? So far, it’s Pujols
• Adler: Why Koo’s epic day was unlikeliest sequence ever
• Byrne: The First Five No. 1 Picks
• Byrne: How The 2000-09 NL Rookies Of The Year Turned Out
• MLB Trivia: Can you name the HOFer from his scouting report?
• Today in Baseball History

Best of Twitter:

Zito (accidentally) trolled Giants fans pretty hard

This is a neat one for This Day In History, but was it worth losing Nelson Cruz? (No.)