Dodgers links: Alex Wood, ticket refunds, franchise valuation

Dodgers starting pitcher Alex Wood was a guest on The Punt & Pass Podcast with Drew Butler on Friday, and talked about trying to stay ready for a potential resumption of the 2020 season.

Wood mentioned using the downtime to keep his arm loose, something similar to what Ross Stripling said on his own podcast earlier in the week.

“It’s a little bit harder when you’re a pitcher. They could flip a switch at any second, so we kind of have to keep throwing to stay semi-ready,” Wood said. “It’s a little bit of a different situation than with other sports, or even with hitters.”

Wood estimated a resumed season could start by mid-June or July 1, with a schedule between 100-120 games. But he didn’t think the proposed Arizona plan was feasible.

“Yeah, it’s not gonna happen. Logistically that would just be an absolute nightmare,” Wood said. “Then you talk about having to play day games in 120-degree desert heat. I saw a quote from a player a couple days ago that said, ‘Arizona in the summer is where things go to die.’”

Links

• A rather important issue with MLB games thus far postponed but not canceled is ticket buyers unable to get their money back. From Bill Shaikin at the LA Times: “The Dodgers and Angels are not automatically refunding tickets at this time, following the guidance of Major League Baseball. Neither is StubHub, the league’s official ticket resale partner.”
• Rob Mains at Baseball Prospectus examined the latest MLB team valuations from Forbes, in which the Dodgers were deemed to be worth $3.4 billion.
• The Chinese Professional Baseball League opens its regular season on Saturday. Emma Baccellieri at Sports Illustrated spoke with a few former major league players in that league.