Reds ace Trevor Bauer says shortened MLB season 'better than the alternative, which is not playing'

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Trevor Bauer on looking forward to playing baseball again

MLB players reporting to training camps; Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer weighs in.

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer told "Bill Hemmer Reports" Monday that he excited for the abbreviated 2020 Major League Baseball season, despite the "awful" safety regulations imposed by the league.

"I want to get out there and compete," Bauer said. "I think all of us really want to get out there and compete, provide entertainment for fans and do the thing that we love to do. We have all been missing it."

MLB PLANS 60-GAME SLATE, SHORTEST SINCE 1878, AS UNION BALKS

Each MLB club will play a 60-game regular season, with Opening Day set for July 23 or July 24. The clubs are required to submit a written COVID-19 action plan for league approval while players, umpires and other on-field personnel are being told to practice physical distancing as much as possible. In addition, spitting is prohibited in clubhouses, dugouts and on the field.

"It sounds awful," Bauer said. "It is not what we are used to. You sit in the dugout next to people, eating sunflower seeds, chewing gum, giving high fives and all that stuff. We are going to have to be a lot more conscious this year. But," he emphasized, "it is better than the alternative, which is not playing."

Bauer, who is entering his ninth big-league season and his first full campaign with the Reds, said the team is "excited to get out there and abide by the rules as much as humanly possible being safe ... while still not taking away from the competitive nature of the game and trying to win."

When asked by host Bill Hemmer about MLB's handling of the pandemic, Bauer, who has been vocal during the Major League Baseball Players Association's fight with team owners over compensation for the shortened season, told host Bill Hemmer it was a "loaded question."

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"There are a lot of different aspects to look at," he said. "I think the public negotiation part of it ... immediately turned the conversation from health and safety to the dollar amount. It wasn’t even a proposal. It was strictly to judge public sentiment and pit the fans against the players.

"I don’t know any other business that would intentionally drive a wedge between their customer base and their product," he said. "It does not make any sense."