Detroit Tigers: MLB Wants to Start Season by July per Report

MLB is getting ready to propose another plan to the MLBPA within the next week. Is there more smoke than fire? From all accounts, the lack of details surrounding how to discuss players’ safety to the roster decisions is still missing.

News broke out yesterday that MLB owners are telling players to get ready to start the season soon. Per Jeff Passan of ESPN, teams have been encouraged for players to start “spring training” that could start by June 10th and by the season starting by July 1st.  This lines up with what former MLB player Trevor Plouffe said on Twitter said on Monday.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (paid subscription required) then reported that the Cleveland Indians had a ZOOM meeting with those same target dates set. Rosenthal also reported that officials just had those dates as target dates, provided if the proposal is approved.

Another part of Rosenthal’s story that was interesting was what league officials were aiming for. A sense of normalcy. Per the article: 

“The league’s goal, according to sources, is to open in as many home cities as possible, a scenario that would be more convenient for the players than out-of-town hubs, particularly if Spring Training 2.0 also takes place mostly in home parks.”

Of course, the story indicated that the parks would be empty when the games would take place. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the spokesman of President Trump’s White House Coronavirus Task Force, in an interview with Peter Hamby of “Good Luck America” last month,  indicated sports could start based on these conditions.  You can find the rest of the interview here. 

“Nobody comes to the stadium. Put them (athletes) in big hotels, wherever you want to play. Keep them very well surveilled … and have them tested like every week and make sure they don’t wind up infecting each other or their family and just let them play the season out.”

Just weeks ago, we discussed the two plans, one for Florida and the other for Arizona with Texas thrown in the mix, so are those ideas still on the table? No one knows for sure but with testing lacking in certain states, those two plans to me, sound safer for the players and the employees for each club.

The latest updates continue to paint the same picture as before. We are nowhere closer to knowing when the season will start. The players would have to agree to the proposal and even if they do, a certain few may not want to for fear of getting their loved ones sick. I don’t blame them. We all want baseball back, don’t get us wrong but I rather wait for the logistics to line up correctly and safely.