MLB considering radical realignment for 2020 season: Grapefruit and Cactus leagues

[greginpsca]

Too hot to play in summer in AZ.  Play in regular stadiums. Eliminate inter league games for this season. Saturday & Sundays play doubleheaders to help catch up on some of the missed games. If they could start by June 1st, they could get up to 130 -135 games in with Wednsday's off.

[AngelsFaninGA]

No, just no. Stop trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. No one wants to watch some XFL version of baseball

[Angelsjunky]

Come on, folks. Baseball is like sex. Even bad baseball is better than no baseball. Like the last few years of my marriage, I'll take what I can get.

[Tank]

4 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

Come on, folks. Baseball is like sex. Even bad baseball is better than no baseball. Like the last few years of my marriage, I'll take what I can get.

I'm banning the first person who makes a reference to "coming up to bat."

[Don]

https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2020/4/7/21212151/mlb-arizona-bubble-coronavirus-plan
 

This article, though it came out a few days ahead of this particular plan, does a good job of explaining why an idea like this isn’t all that reasonable right now. Basically, hundreds of people (at minimum) go into the production of an MLB game, even without any fans to deal with. So we’d have to lock all of those people (who have families, and real life stuff to deal with, and five figure jobs often) into the same hotel bubble or whatever as the players/coaches, along with hotel staff, etc... The idea that they could reasonably keep Covid out of that situation, or that it would be fair to everyone involved, is a bit of a stretch.

[Angelsjunky]

I'm willing to see a few people die so that Trout can surpass 80 WAR this year.

Edited April 10, 2020 by Angelsjunky

[Lou]

37 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

I'm willing to see a few people die so that Trout can surpass 80 WAR this year.

Way ahead of you. I already have a list. 

[Rally Gorilla]

I think it would be cool to have the Angels and Dodgers in the same division for one season.   Lots of SoCal pride at stake.   Lots of MVP contender pride at stake.

I'm still wondering how they are going to make things work around the Phoenix heat.   Remember how hot mid-summer Rangers games would get in Arlington?    July temps average 10 degrees hotter in Phoenix.    Maybe super-early starts with repeat broadcasts throughout the day?    

[Slegnaac]

Is that DH in play across both leagues?

[eligrba]

16 hours ago, Tank said:

I'm banning the first person who makes a reference to "coming up to bat."

How about:

1.  He has some soft hands when playing defense

2.  He has been stroking the ball really well lately

[Inside Pitch]

Like everything else in life, no matter how much you want something there is a point where you walk away.   This proposal is something you walk away from.

 

[Claude]

11 minutes ago, Vladdylonglegs said:

There would be rona outbreaks in each clubhouse throughout the "season". What do they do when the fist player tests positive a week into it all?

If this happens and Mike Trout were to end up on a ventilator just watch how many people that wanted baseball back start backpedaling and say it was a horrible idea. 

[failos]

Having some games is better than having zero games. 

[ELEVEN]

On 4/10/2020 at 4:11 PM, Lou said:

Way ahead of you. I already have a list. 

Good thing I still owe you that beer.

[eaterfan]

1 hour ago, failos said:

Having some games is better than having zero games. 

Having no games is better than people dying or going on life support unnecessarily.

We'd all love to see games, but I'm skeptical this plan will keep people safe.

[Lou]

48 minutes ago, ELEVEN said:

Good thing I still owe you that beer.

Smart man.

 

 

 

 

but watch yourself 

[Vegas Halo Fan]

On 4/10/2020 at 11:39 AM, floplag said:

Still , what not try to organize the AL to AZ and the NL to FLA.

The main reason would be that some teams would have to leave their own spring training facilities to fly across the country to a facility that they have never used.

This will never be a traditional baseball season. Why jump through that many hoops just to preserve league affiliations?

[Claude]

MLB futures over / under win totals makes the Cactus League look really weak.

1) Dodgers o/u 101.5

2) Athletics o/u 89.5

———————————————-

Grapefruit League

1) Yankees o/u 102.5

2) Astros o/u 94.5

3) Twins o/u 92.5

4) Rays o/u 90.5

5) Braves o/u 90.5

 

[DMVol]

9 hours ago, Vegas Halo Fan said:

The main reason would be that some teams would have to leave their own spring training facilities to fly across the country to a facility that they have never used.

This will never be a traditional baseball season. Why jump through that many hoops just to preserve league affiliations?

This is the way you have to look at it....If we’re going to have baseball, it’s not going to be anything close to normal.  I think that’s ok but I’m not sure how I’ll feel about it once things get started....it’s totally a blank slate, no way to know until you try it....

[Glen]

I would like for this to happen and for the Yankees or Dodgers to win this "World Series" because it would never be considered legit.

[Lou]

54 minutes ago, Glen said:

I would like for this to happen and for the Yankees or Dodgers to win this "World Series" because it would never be considered legit.

No way. Their fans would consider it legit, so f*ck that.  

[Blarg]

The heat never cools off in the Phoenix area until about 9pm. From noon until 9 it is a vicious heat sink, there is no scheduled times to play games unless they start games at 8 am and there are no night games. I doubt Florida is any better with the obscene humudity coupled with the heat, not to mention the rain cancelling a lot of outings since June through September are their highest rainfall months. 

This is MLB wanting money and doesn't give a shit how the cash machine is turned back on. They certainly do not give a shit about the health and well being of the players.  

[Vegas Halo Fan]

48 minutes ago, Blarg said:

The heat never cools off in the Phoenix area until about 9pm. From noon until 9 it is a vicious heat sink, there is no scheduled times to play games unless they start games at 8 am and there are no night games. I doubt Florida is any better with the obscene humudity coupled with the heat, not to mention the rain cancelling a lot of outings since June through September are their highest rainfall months. 

There is a reason that the ballparks in Phoenix, St. Petersburg and Miami all have a roof.

As far as Florida goes - my father used to go to the hardware store to buy trisodium phosphate to clean the mildew off the eaves of the house. Yes, I come from a part of the world where mildew grows on the outside of your house. Every time that I return, when I go to the cemetery I buy a gallon of bleach to pour on my parents' headstones to clean the mildew off of them, then return the next day and rinse it off. I was last there in 2006, so it will take a while when I finally return.

Nine PM may be a little generous about the abatement of the desert heat. It depends upon the daytime temperature. On the days when it reaches above 110 here, it is often 95 or more more well into the nighttime hours, and the morning low (around 4 AM) is about 85. I have seen it 100 degrees at midnight here, and Phoenix is usually a few degrees above us.

[Blarg]

My brother moved to Goodyear almost two years ago and his air conditioner never goes off from June to October. Arizona is great for fall and spring baseball in the outdoors.

MLB is going full retard with this plan. My recommendation is the commissioner has to sit through every game in the stands and alternate between Arizona and Florida, depending on which has the worse forecasted weather. Then we will see if he is truly committed to this. 

[PattyD22]

57 minutes ago, Blarg said:

.

MLB is going full retard with this plan. My recommendation is the commissioner has to sit through every game in the stands and alternate between Arizona and Florida, depending on which has the worse forecasted weather. Then we will see if he is truly committed to this. 

In a business suit, nonetheless.