TAMPA, Fla. _ Plans of how Major League Baseball games could start float out from different sources, providing hope there will be action sometime relatively soon, and some intrigue in how it could work.
For at least a few minutes after reading the latest, with teams playing at their spring bases competing in realigned Florida and Arizona "leagues," there was a welcome diversion, a chance to think about actual baseball.
How would the Rays fare in a "Grapefruit South" division that featured the Braves and Twins, two 2019 division champs, plus the Red Sox and the lowly Orioles, while playing in Port Charlotte?
Or, as they'd prefer logistically to be based at the Trop, would they be better off competing in the "Grapefruit North" with the mighty Yankees, their regular rivals, but the less challenging Phillies, Blue Jays and lowly Tigers?
Of course, there are factors we don't know that go into the equation: How long is the "season?" Is there a universal DH? How many wild-card teams make the playoffs?
But while it was fun to ponder the possibility of watching games on TV _ with the likely presumption fans won't be allowed _ starting at best in June, that concept is no closer to reality than the one floated last week of basing all teams in Arizona. Or dozens of others being batted around by Major League Baseball and players union officials, agents, TV execs, media and players.
One involved person stressed Friday that there is no one plan, or even a preferred list, with all considered premature. That's for many reasons, starting with the biggest unknown: What will the coronavirus pandemic and national/local health scene look like over the next couple months? Related, how safe will it be to try to play anywhere? What advances will there be in testing and treatment? No one knows.
Logistics are also a major issue. As another baseball person said, "We are exploring anything, and everything is challenging."
Broadly, there are major financial implications. Playing games without fans _ thus no money from tickets, concessions, merchandise, parking, etc. _ will cost teams, by some estimates, up to 70% of their local revenue. And national shared revenues are certain to be reduced.
Plus, there will be significant costs in getting players and essential staff set up at whatever base site and providing the safely isolated living, traveling and playing conditions necessary.
Which means that to get back on the field, the owners are likely to ask the players, who already agreed to have their salaries prorated based on the number of games played, to take a further, and potentially substantial, pay cut. The spin on those negotiations could be a fascinating blame game.
And there are myriad other issues. Under the Arizona-only plan, which could be the "worst case" option, players and staff could be sequestered even from their families, essentially colonized. Also problematic would be the extreme heat _ as Chase Field is the only dome _ and time-zone differences for East Coast teams, since TV revenue would be the main source of income. Proximity for all personnel is the primary advantage.
A Florida plan requires more travel between sites and heat plus the threat of rain on a daily basis, but with two domes, the Trop and Marlins Park, multiple games could be played indoors each day at both sites, staggered for TV times. East Coast teams like this plan, or an all-Florida option, better.
Ultimately, everyone in baseball would welcome the chance to figure out all the problems and logistics and get back on the field.
"I just wanna play baseball as soon as possible whenever they say it's clear for us to play!" Rays pitcher Blake Snell said via text. "I'd do whatever to be able to play again. I miss my everyday life with my everyday people."
