Yankees, Mets fixtures would be big losers of tiny season

Remember in “Breaking Bad” when Walt rehired Jesse at the lab just so Jesse wouldn’t sue Hank for assaulting him?

The arrangement met everyone’s short-term needs. It also produced considerably more long-term agita.

Which brings to mind the 50ish-game Major League Baseball regular-season schedule that Rob Manfred, on behalf of his owners, has threatened to impose upon Tony Clark and his players. It would represent a grudging reboot, the opposite of genuine collaboration, and it certainly would not bode well for the game’s future, especially with the current Basic Agreement expiring next year.

It would stain Manfred’s legacy and could imperil Clark’s job security.

The pain and risk to this plan potentially extends well beyond the commissioner and the MLB Players Association executive director. How about a list of the five people besides Manfred and Clark with the most to lose from this mini-menu of a campaign? You know you love lists:

1. Mark Lerner

As the managing principal owner of the Nationals, the defending champions, Lerner already has missed out on the sweetest plum from prevailing: the ticket-sale and TV-ratings bounce for the year after. Lerner spent $245 million last December to retain stud pitcher Stephen Strasburg and maintain the club’s stellar starting rotation, its secret to success.

As the Nats appreciate better than anyone, however, a 50-game season doesn’t reveal much. Washington hit its 2019 nadir at the 50-game mark, dropping a decision to the Mets to fall to 19-31 before rising. This talented, fun group deserves as legitimate a chance as possible to repeat and further build its brand. It might not get it.

2. James Paxton

The entire 2020-21 free-agent group will take a beating because of the losses clubs will sustain this year regardless of how many games get played. Nevertheless, top guys in their walk year like Mookie Betts, J.T. Realmuto and the Mets’ Marcus Stroman can take some comfort in the notion that, if they won’t get as much as they anticipated prior to the coronavirus shutdown, they need not sweat having to excel in the reduced schedule. Baseball people know who they are and what they can do.

Paxton’s platform year with the Yankees feels different. He has established his ceiling as a frontline starting pitcher. He has not, however, proven his durability, with last year’s 163 ²/₃ innings pitched (including 13 postseason innings) setting a career high. The ability to stay upright and above average for less than one-third your standard regular season won’t significantly alleviate such concerns, although you know Paxton’s agent Scott Boras would try to do just that. And if Paxton does sustain another injury, he probably would look at a pillow contract for 2021.

3. Dusty Baker

He signed a one-year contract to manage the Astros, replacing the dismissed A.J. Hinch in the wake of Houston’s sign-stealing scandal. If we had no season at all, the Astros surely would bring back the revered Baker to give him a shot in ’21. What if a 50-game run by the Astros goes sideways for whatever reason, though? The Astros easily could decide to move on with a different skipper.

4. Brodie Van Wagenen

Fifty games would be better than zero for the Mets general manager, who built a win-now roster for a sell-now owner. And hey, maybe these Mets can benefit from the shorter schedule now that Noah Syndergaard is out, not to mention the multiple strong candidates they have to start at designated hitter. Still, any sports executive with his or her job in question — who’s to say the next Mets owner won’t want to install someone new in the GM’s office? — would want as long a season as possible to not only tell the truth on a team’s quality but also to give the executive room to maneuver. This looks like the wrong year for that.

5. Bill Marriott

A two-month regular season, as opposed to the 82-game calendar that would make the most sense, means a month less of travel for clubs and less money to infuse into hotels (OK, few teams stay at Marriotts nowadays, but you get the idea), airlines, restaurants and the like. It would represent just another case of baseball not acting like the social institution it professes to be. Which is a reality to which we all are becoming increasingly accustomed, right?