LOS ANGELES _ The Dodgers have the best record in the major leagues. In a normal year, that would have earned them home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. In this pandemic year, they might not play a single postseason home game.
In order to maximize the chances to complete four rounds of postseason play without a coronavirus outbreak or shutdown, the league office and the players' union are discussing a playoff bubble.
With the warm October weather in Southern California, Dodger Stadium would be a natural part of a postseason bubble. However, even in a season without fans, the league is wary of a scenario where a team would play every game of a series in its home ballpark.
In the new first round _ a best-of-three _ the games were scheduled to be played at the home field of the higher seed. But that plan might now be secondary to the priority for players to be isolated in one or more locations during postseason play.
"Safety is the paramount issue," Commissioner Rob Manfred said in an exclusive interview with The Los Angeles Times. "We are very cognizant of the home-field advantage issue. We're cognizant of it with respect to the new round of playoffs. And we're cognizant of the need to avoid a league championship series site or a World Series site where one of the participating team gets to play all the games at home. We will avoid that problem if at all humanly possible."
Manfred said the league had not settled on whether the bubble would be used for the entirety of the postseason. He acknowledged that the league and union have discussed one bubble in Southern California and another in Texas, but he said no decisions on location have been finalized.
"It may turn out to be those two," he said. "We haven't decided yet. We've had government officials from other jurisdictions call and say, hey, we can do X, Y and Z for you if you do it here."
Manfred spoke about several issues, including the definition of success for the 2020 season, the length of the season, the lessons of playing through a pandemic, negotiations to eliminate more than three dozen minor league teams, blackout rules that frustrate fans, and his reputation among fans. Oh, and his emails.
The interview was conducted before NBA players _ and later Major League Baseball players _ chose not to play games Wednesday, in protest of continued police brutality and racial injustice. The interview has been lightly edited.
