It has nearly been two months since Major League Baseball came to a standstill due to concerns over the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
And while six weeks of the regular season have been lost, a variety of scenarios continue being discussed that would allow a reduced form of the 2020 campaign to still take place.
One of the first proposals that surfaced — unofficially deemed the Arizona plan — called for all 30 teams beginning the year in the Grand Canyon State, where games would be played at Chase Field and select Spring Training facilities.
That was followed by a reported plan in which the likes of Florida and Texas could factor into the equation as potential centralized locations for games. More recently, there have been talks that would allow teams to play games at their home ballparks.
This is believed to be the preference of most players, especially those that were concerned about being uprooted from their families for an uncertain period of time.
Though nothing has been finalized to this point, momentum is reportedly picking up toward a plan that would indeed permit clubs to remain at their home stadiums for the 2020 season, via ESPN’s Jeff Passan:
After entertaining the ideas of quarantining all players in Arizona or using three- or five-city hubs to hold games, there is momentum toward the league trying to play games in home stadiums, sources said.
MLB is expected to formally introduce a plan to carry forward with the regular season next week. Players reportedly have been informed to start ramping up baseball activities ahead of an official announcement.
With a second Spring Training needed for players to get back up to game speed, many have pinpointed early July as a logical timeframe for Opening Day.
It will also be interesting to see if MLB decides to do away with the traditional American and National Leagues, in favor for a more simplistic division realignment.
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