MLB officials are optimistic that they can ram the 2020 season through the ongoing public health crisis as early as late June, according to a USA Today report. As part of that push, they’re also exploring a new realignment plan that would have every big league team playing in their home ballpark.
The home park proposal, which was announced on Tuesday, includes teams like the Yankees and Mets playing in metro areas devastated by the ongoing spread of the coronavirus. The plan would call for the season to start no later than July 2.
However, according to USA Today’s sources, the concept is gaining support among owners and executives. The games would be played without fans, and split the entire league into three divisions according to geographical location — East, Central and West — with 10 teams each. Teams would only play other sides in their respective divisions until the start of the playoffs.
The goal of the plan is to have reduced travel relative to a typical season and allow players to play without isolating themselves, unlike previous proposals centered in Arizona, Florida and Texas. (Stars like Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw had publicly bashed the inherent constraints with the Arizona plan.)
USA Today’s league sources indicated that it’s far too early to expound on the details of their latest plan so let’s do our best to do it for them.
The realignment structure would place the Yankees and Mets in the same division with familiar rivals such as the Red Sox and Phillies, along with the Rays and Marlins, who are over 1,000 miles away in Florida, and the Blue Jays, who play in a different country.
Would Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ride a Greyhound from Toronto to Miami? Can a de facto biosphere stretch from Seattle to San Diego?
Again, the devil is in the details.
League officials admit the plan would depend upon sufficient coronavirus tests being available to the public, and of course, would require testing players and personnel thoroughly. A senior Trump administration official claimed that they were prepared to distribute enough tests to cover at least 2% of each state’s population which, while a substantial upgrade for many parts of the country, still leaves questions unanswered for the vast majority of state residents.
The logistical hurdles are obvious to some players as well.
“Understanding the challenges facing baseball, it’s overwhelming to think of what it will take to play a season in the COVID-19 world,” said one veteran player to the Daily News, requesting anonymity. “Anything and everything is on the table but it will be a challenge to sort through the logistics.”
Nonetheless, hope springs eternal for a return to baseball as states across the country announced their respective plans to gradually reopen the economy.
“It’s all coming together,” one of the officials said. “I’m very optimistic.”
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