2020 Major League Baseball season

The 2020 Major League Baseball season began on March 26. The regular season ended on September 27 and the postseason ended on October 30, with the New

York Yankees defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in a seven-game World Series to claim their 28th championship and their first since 2009.

The 91st Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played on July 14 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

For the first time, team rosters were expanded from 25 players to 26, with September rosters set at 28 players.

## Managerial changes

### General managers

#### Offseason

 Pittsburgh Pirates
 Houston Astros

## Hall of Fame balloting

### BBWAA election

The BBWAA election rules were largely identical to those that were in effect for the most recent elections. The most recent change to BBWAA voting rules, announced in 2015, tightened the qualifications for the BBWAA electorate. Beginning with the 2016 election, eligible voters must not only have 10 years of continuous BBWAA membership, but also be currently active members. When these changes were announced, the pool of eligible voters also included those who had held active status within the 10 years prior to the election. A BBWAA member who has not been active for more than 10 years can regain voting status by covering MLB in the year preceding the election. However, as of the 2020 balloting process, the BBWAA and Hall of Fame have apparently redefined "active membership" to remove the vote from anyone who did not cover MLB games for two years, instead of 10.

On November 18, 2019, the Hall of Fame released the list of players on the ballot. The ballot included two categories of players:

* Candidates from the 2019 ballot who received at least 5% of the vote but were not elected, as long as they first appeared on the BBWAA ballot no earlier than 2010. There were 14 such players, including Larry Walker, who was in his 10th and final year of eligibility.
* Selected individuals, chosen by a screening committee, whose last major league appearance was in 2014. The screening committee selected 18 such players, including José Valverde, who had not officially retired, and pitched as recently as July 2019 in the Mexican Baseball League.

Unofficial voting totals were tracked online.

A total of 397 ballots were cast, with 298 votes needed to reach the 75% threshold for election. A total of 2613 votes were cast for individual players, an average of 6.58 votes per ballot, a sharp decline from the year earlier. Derek Jeter fell one vote short of becoming the second player unanimously elected, a feat first (and to date, only) accomplished by Mariano Rivera, when elected in 2019. Larry Walker became the seventh player in the modern voting era (since 1966) to be elected in his final ballot, after Red Ruffing, Joe Medwick, Ralph Kiner, Jim Rice, Tim Raines, and Edgar Martínez.

### Modern Baseball Era Committee election

On July 23, 2016, the Hall of Fame announced changes to the Era Committee system. The system's timeframes were restructured to place a greater emphasis on the modern game, and to reduce the frequency at which individuals from the pre-1970 game (including Negro league baseball figures) will have their careers reviewed. Considering candidates whose greatest contributions occurred from 1970 to 1987, the Modern Baseball Era Committee met in 2019 as part of the elections for the next calendar year.

The Historical Overview Committee, which determined the Modern Baseball Era ballot in the fall, was composed of 11 veteran historians: Bob Elliott (Canadian Baseball Network); Jim Henneman (formerly Baltimore Sun); Rick Hummel (St. Louis Post-Dispatch); Steve Hirdt (formerly Elias Sports Bureau); Bill Madden (formerly New York Daily News); Jack O'Connell (BBWAA); Jim Reeves (formerly Fort Worth Star-Telegram); Tracy Ringolsby (InsideTheSeams.com); Glenn Schwarz (formerly San Francisco Chronicle); Dave van Dyck (formerly Chicago Tribune); and Mark Whicker (Los Angeles News Group).

The cutoff for election to the Hall of Fame remained the standard 75%; as the Modern Baseball Era Committee consisted of 16 members, 12 votes was the minimum for selection. The 16-member Hall of Fame Board-appointed electorate charged with the review of the Modern Baseball Era featured Hall of Fame members George Brett, Rod Carew, Dennis Eckersley, Eddie Murray, Ozzie Smith and Robin Yount; major league executives Sandy Alderson, Dave Dombrowski, David Glass, Walt Jocketty, Doug Melvin and Terry Ryan; and veteran media members/historians Bill Center, Steve Hirdt, Jack O’Connell and Tracy Ringolsby.

The most recent prior Modern Baseball Era Committee balloting was for 2018, which selected Jack Morris and Alan Trammell to the Hall of Fame. Considered, but not elected, on that ballot were players Steve Garvey, Tommy John, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Ted Simmons, and Luis Tiant. Also on the ballot was Marvin Miller, the former leader of the Major League Baseball Players Association union. Of those eight, Simmons came within one vote (11) of being elected, while Miller had seven votes; the other six candidates each received less than seven votes, as their vote totals were not released to the public.

On November 4, 2019, the Baseball Hall of Fame announced the below ten candidates for the Modern Baseball Era ballot, to be voted upon at the Baseball Winter Meetings on December 8. Miller and Munson were the only candidates who were deceased when the list was announced. Results of the committee's voting were announced on December 8; Miller and Simmons each received at least 75% of the votes, earning election to the Hall of Fame. Those not elected remain potential candidates for the next Modern Era Committee ballot for 2023.