International League scheduling policies

[33Innings]

Terry Nau of the Pawtucket Times made a good point in today's paper: "The PawSox do not have an off-day until Sept. 1 and will play 28 days in a row. If the minor leaguers had a union, this could be grievance material. Alas, they don’t."

 

But couldn't this be remedied if the IL simply started its season a week earlier? The PawSox started their season six days later than the BoSox, but if their season were to begin right at the start of April, it would result in two critical benefits:

 

1. Room for more much-needed off-days.

2. Room for more make-ups so that rained-out games have less chance of being cancelled altogether. As it stands now, Pawtucket will finish its season having played 143 games while some fellow playoff contenders will have played the full 144-game schedule. Doesn't seem fair to me.