Major League Baseball suspended operations on March 12, as did much of the world. Since that day, we have heard an all-Arizona proposal for baseball to return. Then we heard a proposal for a Florida and Arizona plan, followed by one with Texas. But yet another proposal came to light on Saturday: teams playing their own division and opposite division in 2020.
Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported on Saturday evening that Major League Baseball officials will meet on Monday to discuss a new potential plan, which is different than all of the other rumored options.
According to Rosenthal, the 2020 season would include the following:
- A season about half of the normal games, somewhere between 78-82 regular season games
- Teams would play their division as well as the opposite division (such as the NL East and AL East playing one another)
- Playoffs would include seven teams from each league
- Expanded rosters as many as 45 or 50 players
But there will be challenges to make this work.
According to Rosenthal, some of the remaining issues include:
- Travel. The Toronto Blue Jays, for example, might have to play elsewhere due to travel between the United States and Canada being restricted
- Safety. Should a heavily-populated city such as New York be too risky, teams could play either at Spring Training sites or elsewhere
- Compensation. Players agreed to take salaries equal to a pro-rated levels, but that was before the idea of playing in front of empty stadiums became a thought
When Spring Training was suspended, the Phillies left their lockers intact, minus a bat or glove they might have wished to work out with during the suspension of play. Other reports have called for a "Spring Training 2" before play resumes. But can MLB and the MLB Players Association work out the compensation issue? That might be the toughest issue.
