If Major League Baseball can pull it off, the Pirates will open their 2020 season in Arizona.
For weeks or even months.
Sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan early Tuesday morning that MLB and the MLB Players Association have collectively embraced a plan that would see all 30 teams play in the Phoenix region -- at the Diamondbacks' Chase Field, the 10 nearby spring training complexes, and possibly other fields -- with an eye toward starting the season as early as May.
And no, there'd be no fans at the games at the outset.
The plan is well past the conceptual stage. Per the report, it's received support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the National Institute of Health in that it promises to adhere to all participants being isolated away from competition and even elements of social distancing within the competition.
The goal of all concerned, the report made clear, is for MLB to become the first professional sport to return.
MLB issued a statement in response to the report Tuesday morning, saying this was one of "numerous" contingency plans they were considering, though nothing has been decided:
Major League Baseball issued the following statement this morning: pic.twitter.com/zyjrbGICVQ
— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) April 7, 2020
As one might imagine, executing this plan wouldn't be simple: In addition to MLB and the players needing to agree on all conditions, not least of which is that players might be isolated from families for as long as five months, there would also be issues toward providing immensely expanded/rapid coronavirus testing that doesn't currently exist, living quarters, transportation and security, among others.
There'd be a training camp lasting two or three weeks, and an abbreviated regular season would follow.
Why not Florida?
The report doesn't spell that out, but having everyone in a single setting facilitates all of the above, particularly since the facilities in Arizona aren't nearly as scattered as in Florida. Also, to date, Florida's being hit by the virus far harder than Arizona, so it's highly likely that MLB saw it as the safest area.
And if all that sounds crazy, check out these discussed possible changes to the game itself, verbatim from the report:
• Implementing an electronic strike zone to allow the plate umpire to maintain sufficient distance from the catcher and batter
• No mound visits from the catcher or pitching coach
• Seven-inning doubleheaders, which, with an earlier-than-expected start date, could allow baseball to come closer to a full 162-game season
• Sitting in the empty stands 6 feet apart -- the recommended social-distancing space -- instead of in a dugout
• Regular use of on-field microphones by players, as an added bonus for TV viewers
Wow. Read the whole thing here.
Also, I've got a Grind up this morning that opens with other baseball fare, plus all the usual bulletry.
