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Zimmerman doubts legitimacy of 2020 title: Will it even count?

Alex Trautwig / Major League Baseball / Getty

As more time ticks away to potentially play a 2020 MLB season, Washington Nationals veteran Ryan Zimmerman is questioning whether it will even be worth it to crown a champion.

"We're talking about maybe a half-season," Zimmerman wrote in his latest diary for The Associated Press. "Let's be honest: Whoever wins the World Series will face questions. Is it even really going to count this year if the champs only have to play three months' worth of games and the postseason's way bigger than normal? What if a team that never would have gotten in ends up winning the World Series?"

Zimmerman also isn't sure if any of the proposals to start the campaign are worth humoring for reasons beyond health and safety. He's uncertain about the game still being enjoyable for players.

"... Is it going to be fun for the players?" he continued. "More than making the money, I still enjoy playing the game and being around my teammates. We're not going to be able to go to dinner together? We're not going to be able to hang out in the hotel? We're just going to go from a hotel to the field and back and do nothing else for four months straight?

"Everyone talks about how we’re grown men playing a kid's game and that's part of the appeal of sports. Is that going to be part of it still this year?"

Zimmerman's worries come amid continued strife between the league and players' union regarding the parameters of a 2020 season. The two parties currently seem far away from an economic agreement, while health and safety also continue to be issues during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

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