Reports started to surface yesterday, reportedly from baseball insiders, that MLB might start Spring Training 2 sometime next month. One story was presented that had training reactivating on June 10, with Opening Day being held on July 1. However, this is apparently not the case, and there is not yet any definitive timeframe to get baseball players back on the field.
Trevor Plouffe tweeted this past Monday, “… I just heard from multiple sources that on June 10th, Spring Training 2 will start. July 1st will be Opening Day and all teams will be playing at their home ballparks…” It would circulate for about a day before being debunked by Jon Heyman, who said that league sources were still busy talking to health officials and politicians, and that no date had yet been established.
That resonates with statements coming out of the MLB Player’s Association. The group’s boss, Tony Clark, explained to ESPN that players definitely want to play, but only once it is considered safe enough for players, staff and everyone else to share close quarters and spaces with others. He added that the league hadn’t shared any plans with the union, stating, “Despite all that has been floated and all the rhetoric that is out there, we have not received anything formal that details an actual plan.”
The first step to seeing baseball again is to ensure that there won’t be any health risks associated with the games. This could mean reducing the number of fields where games are played, as well as changing salaries because of a potentially shorter season. These issues, and others, have to be worked out before any concrete plan can be put on the table. Clark adds, “As these ideas find their way into mainstream media, there are some ideas that seem to make sense, there are others that don’t track very well. All of them are being viewed against the backdrop of getting back on the field and affording our guys an opportunity to do what they love to do. At this point, it’s unfortunate that there are things that keep finding their way into the conversation and are being represented as proposals when they aren’t.”
Sports leagues in other parts of the world are beginning to see daylight again – the South Korean baseball organization and Germany’s Bundesliga soccer organization are slowly getting back into action. However, sports leagues have to be pragmatic with their relaunch plans or they’ll position themselves for even greater financial losses than they’ve already seen. As much as sports fans want the action to get going on again, they’re going to have to wait a little while longer to ensure that everything is in place to properly protect the athletes, coaches, umpires and even the fans themselves.
