MLB and the MLBPA are considering multiple plans to start the 2020 season, including a plan that involves dropping teams into one of three hubs (Arizona, Florida, Texas), as our R.J. Anderson reported. Some plans are more feasible than others, of course, but MLB and everyone involved wouldn't be doing their jobs if they didn't consider all possibilities.
According to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, MLB's "preferred plan" is to play as many games in each team's home big-league ballpark as possible. Other plans, including the hub plan and holding the season entirely in Arizona, are reportedly becoming less and less likely. From Topkin:
The preferred plan would be to start play in late June or early July with as many teams as possible playing in home parks, such as the Rays at Tropicana Field, while competing in their regular divisions with an abbreviated schedule of at least 80 games.
The Arizona scenario, in which all players and staff would essentially live and play in a colonized bubble, is much less likely. So, too, is having all teams play at spring sites and compete in Cactus and Grapefruit leagues. Other reports about having teams assigned to "hub" sites in Arizona, Texas and Florida, or realigned into three geographical divisions, are being downplayed or dismissed.
[
www.cbssports.com]
