Miami Vicrus

 Baseball returned. So far, it has mostly been good. Some teams surprised and a few others stumbled out of the gate. With that in mind, it is a test to see how things go in a no fan zone with the pandemic still going. Things will be interesting this week and if anything will reach the level of what is going on with the Miami Marlins.

Florida is one of those states that has seen a huge uptick in cases over the last month or so. For sports, the NBA is in Orlando. Baseball has Tampa and Miami. Same with football, but add Jacksonville into it. The Marlins have a couple handfuls of players and coaches testing positive for the virus. There are many challenges for MLB and the last four months has seen concern over how things can be handled. You have quite a bit of players that have opted out. So far, you can see why. Even within that state, the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team had a bit of issues with players testing positive a few months ago.

There has been postponement of the Marlins game against the Orioles. Philadelphia has a postponement of the Yankees Phillies game. The Phillies themselves experienced their share of players testing positive a while ago. They just played Miami. Better safe than sorry. Now, I wonder if the Marlins could continue their season. This will come in play if other teams have the issues they have experienced. MLB has tried to put in rules for spitting, chewing, travel. They can do whatever they can, but it's not solving much.

I'd like to see where the season goes over the next week or two. Travel will probably be the most dangerous part for baseball. Next would be eating and being around other people. If it gets more severe and at least five other teams get an uptick in positive cases, the season either goes into postponement mode or they can it entirely. I understand wanting a distraction and watching something to ease your mind for a few hours, but the 60 people in these stadiums do pose risks. When 2020 ends, the question will be asked of whether it was worth it or not.

You can only hope for good, but that's hard to find in a pandemic world.

Harper's Lucky or Unlucky Break

The number thirteen is something that can be viewed as mysterious. Whatever the case is for the Philadelphia Phillies, they are holding on Bryce Harper for a very long time. After seven years with Washington, he got a 13 year deal with the worth being 330 million dollars. He may not be making the most, but to get something long term may be good.

Given his career so far, he has been rather inconsistent. While capable of hitting home runs, he has been having years where he is great and then he slumps a little bit. Last year was a good indicator. Questions were asked on whether he was tanking or not. Comparisons have been made so far about Ryan Howard's contract from 2012 through 2016. While I would have fear if I was a Phillies fan, I think it's different. Howard was at the peak of his career and after 2011. He wasn't the same player like he was in his first three to four full seasons.

Harper still has a lot of prime years left in him to make his name in baseball. Now, he will be playing until he is 38 or 39. It's not like Howard's situation or even Albert Pujols' 10 year deal, which I'd say was a big bust. Teams are very concerned about these kid of deals. There is power to him, but the Phillies need to contain him and control his anger. If they want to be contenders in the next few years, they can't have him lose his cool and get ejected in critical moments of the season. Getting support around him and developing some of their prospects would also be a great help.

The National League East might become the go to division if it isn't the American League equivalency. Harper's deal will go down as the greatest ever or the biggest bust for any free agent when it's all said and done.