Before Major League Baseball can begin its 2020 regular season, which has been delayed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, there are a number of hurdles that need to be cleared.
MLB recently sent a proposal to the Players Association to begin the discussions between the two sides, although that reportedly did not have any of the financial details sorted out. That could be a big issue considering owners are claiming that they’ll lose money by pay prorated salaries to their players in 2020 since there won’t be any fans in attendance at games.
Another signifiant issue still at hand is player safety as they will not agree to return unless conditions improve. The main way to ensure safety is to have an adequate number of coronavirus tests available to players at all times, although they also don’t want to be taking tests away from people that need it more.
It appears the league has found a solution to that issue though as they are partnering with a Utah lab that will not only provide testing to players, but also the general public as well, according to Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated:
MLB believes it has cleared that hurdle: by partnering with the Utah lab that runs its performance-enhancing drug program to turn that lab into a coronavirus testing facility.
In partnership with MLB, the Utah lab, The Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory, not only would provide coronavirus testing for the 3,000 or so baseball players and support staff but also for thousands more in the general public. Under that plan, MLB would provide a net gain to public testing rather than drawing from existing resources.
This is obviously good news in MLB’s quest to begin the 2020 season as soon as possible. Currently, the most optimistic realistic date for Opening Day is July 1, although a lot would have to happen in the next couple of weeks for that to happen.
The most recent known proposal would be for teams to play in their home stadiums as opposed to Spring Training facilities in Arizona and Florida. That remains to be seen for teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, as stay-at-home orders could be in place in L.A. county for the next three months.
Only time will tell if that is necessary or not, but regardless, it seems that MLB is making progress and the return of baseball could be just around the corner.
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