As Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association mull creative ways to embark on a 2020 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest plan being explored would feature realignment into three geographically determined divisions of 10 teams, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports. At least over the course of the regular season, teams would only play within their makeshift divisions, so as to minimize travel requirements. There’s “cautious optimism” among MLB officials of starting play by July 2 and perhaps even in late June, according a handful of decision-makers who spoke with Nightengale.
The current proposal would apparently eliminate the traditional American and National Leagues. While the report doesn’t specify as much, that would presumably bring about the implementation of a universal DH for the 2020 season. That could be a temporary alteration unique to the 2020 campaign, although a universal DH has been increasingly seen as an inevitability in recent years, so perhaps the league would prefer to use this as a sort of testing grounds for future seasons. There’s also some hope that teams could begin the season in either Arizona, Texas or Florida but eventually be able to return to their own parks.
Obviously, there’s plenty of reason for any optimism to be rather guarded in nature. Medical experts and government officials would need to green-light a return to play, and both will be highly dependent on the availability of testing. Capacity would need to expand to the point that players can be tested regularly without those tests coming at the expense of availability to the greater public.
For all of the recent talk of increased hope regarding a return to play — whether by Nightengale in this afternoon’s column or in previous pieces from Ken Rosenthal and Jeff Passan — there’s still no indication as to how the league plans to proceed if/when a player or players test positive for the coronavirus. Perhaps MLB will look to how other leagues are handling such scenarios; the KBO will reportedly immediately quarantine any such player and shut down his team’s facility for a period of 48 hours for cleaning purposes.
More drastic scenarios where several players/coaches on a single team contract the virus would need to be planned for as well. And while most players could be reasonably expected to have relatively mild symptoms given their age and general health, that’s certainly not true of all players (nor is it true of the much older coaches who will inherently be in close quarters with said players). Players with preexisting conditions (e.g. asthma, diabetes, ulcerative colitis, etc.) and those who’ve previously battled cancer are clearly at higher risks than others. Outlining a general arrangement that allows all parties to feel comfortable is a daunting challenge.
Furthermore, while it’s certainly encouraging to hear of budding optimism in a number of reports, Nightengale mentions that the league and the union have still “yet to engage in formal discussions about the financial ramifications of playing without fans.” That’s an enormous roadblock that must be addressed. The MLBPA already felt that the situation was addressed by the agreement reached in late March, but league officials have since made clear that they feel a renegotiation of terms will be necessary if games are played without fans in attendance. While the optics of a lengthy squabble over finances would be astonishingly bad at a time when unemployment has skyrocketed, one would still imagine those discussions will be both contentious and complex.
Of course, outside of waiting for the development, testing and large-scale distribution of a vaccine — which would likely require more than a year without any baseball — there’s no scenario that is without risk and pitfalls. Every plan regarding a potential return to play is going to be wrought with contingencies. The 2020 season, if played, is bound to look like no season we’ve seen in the past or will see in the future.
davidk1979
Please I’m desperately missing baseball
stubby66
AMEN
PutPeteinthehall
Heard dat!
ColossusOfClout
Enough with the vaccine propaganda. Bill Gates is desperate to force that garbage on Americans. The same Bill Gates who advocates population control.
californiaangels
as long as Angel’s can be moved to the al central . I’m happy 🙂
Colorado Red
Not going to happen.
GO REDS.
joegriff
GO REDS
Priggs89
They still wouldn’t win a division.
house71
The Angels would behind Minnesota,Cleveland and Chicago. They have no pitching!
badco44
Woulda, shoulda, coulda…. stop the dancing routine and get on with it already
vtadave
Yeah agreed. I’m sure you’d have baseball back up and running already, as it’s so simple.
skullbreathe
Dear MLB you can’t wrap the players, coaches, umps and team personnel in bubble wrap or in this case PPE forever so get on with it… Yes have testing but quit with the “testing MLB players takes away from the common man” crap.. No one see’s it that way…
jamesmcdoodle
As someone who’s significant other works as a nurse on the front lines of this, I definitely see it that way. I love baseball and I want it back, but my wife has been living in a donated RV in our driveway for over a month as to not bring the virus home to me and our 2 kids. The only contact she has had with them has been through the glass windows at the front of the house and over Skype. So I definitely see it that way. It’s not as simple as testing the players and we’re good. Those tests are needed for the nurses, doctors, long term care workers, to ensure that they and their patients are safe.
jeppeson
Best wishes to you and your family.
scottn59c
Sorry man, that sucks. Your wife is a good person, and I wish everyone here would appreciate all of the folks putting it all on the line right now.
giantsphan12
@james. Your wife is a hero and her commitment to care for Coronavirus patients is extremely commendable. I hear you about the need for the tests and their availability for frontline workers like your courageous spouse and mother of your kids! The other post “no one sees it that way” is flat out wrong. Until we, the whole country, have enough testing for ALL, and PPE for all frontliners, it’s gonna take a long time to keep the curve flat. I really miss baseball too, but would rather that our doctors, nurses, aides, hospital staff, police, firefighters, EMTs, grocery store workers, delivery folks etc. stay healthy and safe. This is much more important than baseball!
woodguy
Well said!!
bravo84
I’m sorry your family is having to go through this nightmare. I think we all are sympathetic and nobody is heartless here. My question is at what point do the major sports band together and throw money at this situation? If MLB can find a manufacturer capable of making these tests that is not already and say they pay for twice as many tests as they will need and donate the other half. Is that not a win win?
AndyMeyer
“Tests take away from the common man crap”. Common people like the ones on the front lines, myself included…
It’s not crap. Your comment is
James. Best wishes to you, your wife and your kids
johnrealtime
There have been outbreaks at grocery stores in the small town that I work at and we’re currently out of tests and can’t test all of the employees who have been exposed.
But yeah lets set aside a ton of tests for seemingly healthy baseball players
AndyMeyer
I work in a grocery store in Philly and can’t get tested right now
AndyMeyer
You start testing ball players before you test essential personal and it’s going to look really bad. Like most of you here, I’d love to have baseball back. But not at the expense of the people who need to get tested
giantsphan12
@Andy, thank you for your courageous effort by working at the your grocery store. So many need you. You are essential and appreciated. Stay healthy!
AndyMeyer
Thank you. I really appreciate that
Angels & NL West
I think I read West Division teams in AZ, Central in TX and East in FL.
TX and FL both have two domed/retractable roof major league stadiums. Therefore, Central and East teams can play all games indoors.
AZ only has one retractable roof stadium. If you’re playing fives games per day per state, how do you overcome the AZ heat July-Sept? You can’t play five games per day at Chase Field. And seems like it would be unfair if AZ teams were playing in the heat at an outdoor spring training site or at 9AM or 9PM.
Has there been any discussion about how to overcome the AZ heat while maintaining a level playing field for all 30 teams?
nats3256
ask the kids in august 2 a day football practice how they deal with the Az summer heat?
DarkSide830
stop with this they are world class athletes and baseball is not as consistently demanding as most sports are. baseball can absolutely be played in Arizona
AndyMeyer
“Baseball can absolutely be played in Arizona”. Say the season starts July 2nd. Average air temperature is around 106 degrees. Temps on the field would be higher. Increase risk of injury and heat stroke
There is a reason the snakes play inside
Sure baseball isn’t as “demanding” as others are, but when you have to go out there and play in that type of heat every day? Not to mention talk of doubleheaders to squeeze in as many games as possible?
cubsnomore
Sure if each team carries 10 catchers.
LouisianaAstros
If there are 10 teams per division.
You can play 4 games a day indoors and 1 at night outdoors
Arizona has the luck of not having humidity and the chance of rain like Texas and Florida
toycannon
Clearly you have never lived in Phoenix from mid-July thru September when the monsoon season is going and temps are still well over 100 degrees and high humidity.
LouisianaAstros
I researched it.
Not really humid even in July.
If you want to see actual humidity. Visit the Gulf Coast.
One game every couple of days at 7:30 isn’t going to hurt anyone.
They have played outdoor baseball in Atlanta and DFW. Both places are a lot worse than Phoenix.
AndyMeyer
10 teams crammed together to play as many games as possible during the monsoon season.
Scott Kliesen
As someone who spent 6 summers living in the desert, I can assure you playing games outside at 7 PM when the air temperature is around 100 degrees is far from unbearable.
As long as the sun isn’t beating straight down on you, 100 degrees with low humidity would be closer to ideal than unacceptable for these players.
Now if you want to see what tough playing conditions looks like, go visit the Dominican Republic and watch them play summer league games there.
slider32
The weather at all three places is extreme, but Arizona is over 100 right now. Teams have their own privite planes the travel and safety can be managed. Since their are no fans the location is not as important.
LouisianaAstros
I know the Rangers usually didn’t play any day games in the summer.
Once in awhile they have.
Plus StL plays day games in the summer.
Old Busch Stadium in August was 125 degrees on the field with humidity some days.
You can play a night game in Arizona.
The reason for the dome is the fans.
Just like why the Rangers went to the retractable roof.
The best thing about Arizona is you don’t really have to worry about the rain in the summer. The rain and potential rainouts are the issue
mgomrjsurf
Texas have 3 if you count where Cowboys play. Florida has also Orlando and Jacksonville,
LouisianaAstros
If you play outside Texas has numerous stadiums.
Minor league and college stadiums
FishyHalo
I think they might be able to make that football stadium into a baseball field.
It would be a bit awkward on Tv to look at. But you could bring in a fence and play there.
99socalfrc
Honestly I don’t know how much demand there is to watch games in empty parks, on TV only with the “home team” thousands of miles away. Do we even get a live announcer? The press might not be allowed in. The players would feel like they are in a prison. Will they just shut the whole thing down if a couple guys turn up with the cooties?
If they start up and the whole thing is a disaster or needs to be shut down again it’s not going to be a good look for the league.
rjcollings1973
It’s a cold/flu like virus nothing for the players to worry about. Some of the older coaches may need to sit out this year. Life goes on.
hOsEbEeLiOn
Thanks a lot man. Here come the internet doctors with their WebMD medical degrees quoting skewed statistics at us now. Thanks.
giants number 1 fan
Whatever farce they come up with, if it’s ever really realistic, I would hope that no stats are ever applied to the historical record books.
Afk711
Nonsense. Its still a baseball game. Stop reading so much into external factors. Its still 9 innings and all the other rules we have been playing with forever.
DarkSide830
exactly. to act like this is so much different is crazy.
SEATown11
Unless you’re a NL fan, in that case get use to the DH it’s probably here to stay
hiflew
Never. Once the DH comes to the NL, I am done. If you like the idea of a DH, just watch the AL. You have an option. People that prefer real baseball should have an option available as well.
Tom E. Snyder
Bye.
bitteroldman
Bye Felicia!
Judge_Smails45
Does this World Series if there is one; not mean as much?
mike127
Only to 29 teams.
Afk711
Nope its a championship all the same. May be not as exciting if there are no fans, but a ring is a ring.
tedtheodorelogan
I would definitely think less of it this year, but it will still count most likely.
DarkSide830
of you want to find something to be angry about then sure
SEATown11
What happens when a star player is quarantined in the Playoffs, or the team is and unable to play? Does the other team win the Series?
DTD_ATL
Sure, let’s jump to the ” snowball’s chance in hell” scenario, that’s always the best way to make decisions
thejet
Somebody will get sick. How the league chooses to react to that is surely going to be included in the plan. The notion that is a “snowball’s chance in hell” is ridiculous.
DTD_ATL
The entire team not being able to play is what I was referencing. Immediately going to the worst case scenario is irresponsible and asinine. It’s just more unnecessary panic which is what this entire situation has been from day 1. It’s highly contagious with a miniscule mortality rate. With a novel virus, herd immunity is the only way to get past it. Shutting down and shutting in is irresponsible.
chico65
Yes, let’s just kill all those over 70. Who needs grandparents anyway? What a selfish jackass.
bigbadjohnny
I am hoping for baseball, but I am realistic person.
Baseball is a business.
Owners are people who look at the bottom profit line, not the wins and losses.
This is all about accounting and tax write offs.
Everyone knows the date they have to get the season started to get a profit made.
Politicians cannot block fans on seeing games in person.
If they do, the season is over.
SaoMagnifico
If there’s in-person attendance at large sporting events earlier than 2022, I’ll be pleasantly surprised.
DarkSide830
crazy to think this wolnt be cleared up by next year, much less 2022
SaoMagnifico
The Spanish flu pandemic a hundred years ago lasted about two and a half years. Medical technology has come a long way since then, but we’re also dealing with a type of virus we don’t really understand as well as we understand the flu.
I certainly hope there is a vaccine very soon, but these things take time to develop, time to test for both safety and efficacy, time to manufacture, and time to distribute. We’ll be in amazingly good shape if we’ve got a vaccine that’s declared ready for mass production by the time the next season starts; it’s theoretically possible, but still wildly optimistic, that we’ll actually have it in everyone’s arm by then.
BlueSkyLA
No, the Spanish Influenza did not last two and half years. The three waves occurred within the space of one year.
Jamonsta
Spanish flu, also known as the 1918 flu pandemic, was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic. Lasting almost 36 months from January 1918 to December 1920.
Facts are facts. Maybe you should look stuff up before declaring false info.
cubsnomore
Then why did they call it the 1918 flu pandemic? It should have been called the 1918-1920 flu pandemic.
BlueSkyLA
I have, and you are wrong. This is an actual graph of the 1918-19 pandemic:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu#/media/File:1918…
Yup, facts are facts. It’s helpful to have the correct ones.
SEATown11
There will be ZERO fans in attendance in any game all year
Yankeepride88
Couldn’t be more wrong.
Eatdust666
IDGAF what MLB does, I just want baseball back FFS!
SaoMagnifico
Hopefully this will happen — I think it will — but there are still a lot of ways to see how it might not. The question of what happens if a player tests positive is huge; if a positive test is sufficient to shut the whole experiment down, for one, that puts the lie to the “Biodome” notion, and for another, that would seem to render this entire scheme too fragile to work.
That being said, if the target date is ~July 1, or mid- to late June for a shortened preseason, that’s still two months off. It’s very, very difficult to predict what the world will look like then. I will say that if cases of the virus explode over the next month in states like Texas that are easing off their restrictions, I think it very likely kills MLB stone dead for 2020 and prompts a lot of discussion around how to hold a season at all in 2021.
LouisianaAstros
There is the belief that temperature slows the spread
MWeller77
People believe all sorts of things. However, you won’t be able to cite even one expert who is certain that temperature will slow the spread, because no responsible scientist will make that claim with certainty. It might happen; it might not: we don’t know. It’s irresponsible and misleading to claim otherwise.
You’ve gone from being a troll about the Astros’ cheating to being a troll who makes unsubstantiated claims about COVID-19. How do you manage to be so wrong so often?
chico65
Yeah, and there are folks who believe the earth is flat. Your point is?
Tom E. Snyder
And they fear that social distancing (6 feet) will push some people over the edge. (stolen).
scottn59c
Agree.
scottn59c
Yeah, yeah, yeah, blah blah blah…yet another conceptual plan in a vacuum that is not logistically, financially, or medically feasible.
There ain’t gonna be a 2020 season. The first third is already gone, and the end of the current lockdown is nowhere in sight. Our governor (Newsom) hasn’t even announced a timeline for when California will begin opening up.
I know we all want baseball, but it’s not at all realistic. It’s like the delusional team that still thinks they have a wildcard shot when they are 20 games back in late July. I’m calling it now: There will be no 2020 season.
Afk711
It doesn’t matter what Newsom says since they wouldn’t even come back to California until the postseason. How about reading the actual idea instead of fear mongering.
scottn59c
Fear mongering? I’m just trying to give you a reality check. In fact, my comment wasn’t even meant as a dig at Newsom; it was to show how much of the country is locked down indefinitely and how much of the country is not going to be opening up and playing ball anytime soon.
It’s not just California – baseball players from around the globe are just going to bail on their families, defy the scientific rationale for isolation, and play in an empty stadiums for pennies on the dollar of their contracts? I seriously doubt it. Every week it’s a new idea that they’re “cautiously optimistic” about, and each time, it seems more and more ridiculous, all while the season slips away.
There are so many legal, ethical, medical and logistical concerns to reckon with. The only baseball this season is going to be played on video game consoles from the confines of one’s home.
tedtheodorelogan
Newsom is going to keep us locked down, broke, and out of work for as long as he possibly can.
MWeller77
Sure, Ted, because that’s Newsom’s plan. He just wants to punish us. /s/
I suppose you support the guy in the White House who thinks we should inject ourselves with bleach.
SaoMagnifico
Why, for fun? Do you even have a clue the kind of hole this is going to blow in every state and every city and every school district’s budget, all across the country? Nobody likes this.
tedtheodorelogan
I don’t know why. He didn’t use common sense with the initial shutdown. Construction work should never have been shut down. If affordable housing construction workers can work while social distancing, all construction workers can. If I can social distance at the liquor store, then I can social distance at every single retail store. Like 5 million Californians have lost their jobs because of this. Outside of the service industry, most of those job losses could have been avoided by not jumping to rash determinations. I’m not the most compassionate person in the world, but I have more sympathy for the millions of people who have had their lives destroyed than the thousands of mostly old/sick people who died.
playicy
We’re missing any kind of sports definitely baseball and football are the most popular sports
PhilliesBob1980
I know this is the least important part of this discussion but I have a conspiracy theory. MLB Network has been showing mostly old NL games. Just speculating that universal DH might be permanent change. I agree though that season should only go forward if safe, if players don’t have to be away from family and doesn’t take away PPE and tests from general public. I also like realignment idea for this season.
Dee Stroya
A ten team division in the east could be: TOR,BOS, NYM, NYY, PHI, WSH, BAL, ATL, TB, MIA.. I’m a Mets fan, and I believe in this year’s team, but that’s a BRUTAL division
Dee Stroya
That would be a lot of really good baseball though
HubcapDiamondStarHalo
At least you’d get Baltimore…
mgomrjsurf
Missing Pirates.
Also 3 Leagues wouldn’t work for Playoffs only if you do it College Baseball style. Also OTP doesn’t allow 3 Leagues yet in League Structure.
DTD_ATL
3 divisions would easily work. You have 3 division winners, 3 runners up, 4 wild cards. The wild cards have the traditional one game series and then you go to your standard format. Your 2 best records play the wild card teams and the 3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5.
slider32
I don’t get it, teams still travel to places that had a lot of problems with the virus. I would rather go to a dome in another less populated area. Teams can travel anywhere on a privite plane, so you want to play in New York.
HubcapDiamondStarHalo
If the KBO does get up and running, the world of sports will obviously need to watch closely. The bit about closing a team’s facilities for 48 hours after a player tests positive jumps out at me. What do they mean by “facilities?” Just their training facilities? Living quarters? The ballpark where they play? Any of these present pretty significant problems, I would think.
Vizionaire
move the astros to a.l. central and move the dbacks to a.l. west. and move the rays to brooklyn.
LouisianaAstros
Doesn’t make sense.
Much rather play Oakland and the Arlington Rangers than the AL Central teams.
Keep the Astros in the AL West or put them back in the NL
jonesadoug
move those cheatin Asstros right out of league
brucenewton
Not sure why the Pirates and Braves flip divisions.
DTD_ATL
Pittsburgh is further east than Atlanta
brucenewton
They should permanently swap then.
HubcapDiamondStarHalo
But Pittsburgh is further north than Atlanta…
DTD_ATL
Are the division north/south or east/west?
kershawsgrandma22
Dodgers and Astros in the same division would be fun
chico65
How many hit Astros players each time they play? Gotta expect at least 1
ScottCFA
I don’t care how the f*** they organize the divisions. Let’s just have some baseball!!!
rrieders
Assuming that’s not a mistake, I would imagine it’s for competitive balance purposes.
Swapping the Braves and Pirates makes things a bit more fair than it otherwise would.
DR J
Very exciting news! As a Braves fan, I like the NL Central. Two really good teams (Braves and Twins). The other divisions each have three really good teams.
datrain021
Idk why they can’t still do leagues this year. Have East divisions in FL, Central in TX, West in AZ. Play mainly teams in your division with the rest of the games coming from the same division in the other league
Yekatman
How convenient to overlook the NL Central teams, 4 of which could be quite good!
LLGiants64
Backdoor the DH into the National League. Sad.
antsmith7
Please bring it back!
619bird
I just got called back to work today. Work at a resort. Everyone wears masks and gloves in most instances.
AndyMeyer
Take care and stay safe
drew ford
Of course in any scenario the Blue Jays will not be playing at home. The Canadian border needs to be shut due to the lunacy in the United States.
wild bill tetley
You’re saying Canada, specifically Ontario, doesn’t have issues of their own with this pandemic? Dumb statement on your part to blame America. Canada would be in better shape had they instituted travel bans to and from China the same day the US did. Toronto has a lot of travelers to and from China throughout the year. Thankfully Toronto is not a tourist destination in the winter as we push 16,000 Covid-19 cases, majority around the Toronto area. Nearly 26,000 in Quebec, next door to Ontario.
The lunacy is you not having a clue. Stop before you comment.
AndyMeyer
Looks more like no team will be playing at home
wild bill tetley
Yep.