MLB Mulls Baseball In the Desert
The Major League Baseball season was expected to begin on March 26th but because the country has been shut down, it has been put on hold. MLB and the players union continue to check out options to make sure that at least an abbreviated season can be played. It might happen without fans in the stands but still, the games would be on TV and it would also give the nation a bit of a distraction from the fact that they have been confined to their homes fo now.
One option that has been floating around of late is that MLB could play an abbreviated season in the state of Arizona. The story was first broke by the Associated Press and it could be a very viable option. Ideas are still in the developmental stage but here is how it would be expected to play out.
Arizona is where about half of the clubs hold their spring training and play in the Cactus League. There are 10 spring training sites in the state, plus Chase Field and they all reside within 50 miles of each other. That is far better geographically than Florida, which hosts the Grapefruit League and all their sites are within 220 miles of each other. This is why Arizona is the more viable destination. We also note that Florida has far more cases of Covid-19 than does Arizona. Chase Field has a retractable roof and could be the site where three games are played daily.
The MLBPA would want to take a survey of its members to see if they would support a plan like this. It is just one option that MLB is considering, but it could be the one that sticks and I would love to see baseball resume, in any form. MLB stated that mid-may would be the earliest that they would look to get the season started. I will keep you all posted.
From
“It allows for immediacy of a schedule, where you might be able to begin it and televise it, provide Major League Baseball to America,” said Scott Boras, baseball’s most prominent agent. “I think players are willing to do what’s necessary because I think they understand the importance of baseball for their own livelihoods and for the interest of our country and providing a necessary product that gives all the people that are isolated enjoyment."
“It gives them a sense of a return to some normalcy,” Boras added. "You talk to a psychologist about it and they say it’s it’s really good for a culture to have to have sport and to have a focus like that, where for a few hours a day they can take their minds off the difficult reality of the virus.”
