Here’s the gist of the story via Bob Nightengale of USA Today:
Major League Baseball officials have become cautiously optimistic this week that the season will start in late June, and no later than July 2, playing at least 100 regular-season games, according to three executives with knowledge of the talks.
MLB is considering a three-division, 10-team plan in which teams play only within their division – a concept gaining support among owners and executives. It would abolish the traditional American and National Leagues, and realign the divisions based on geography.
Here’s a look at the possible realignment structure:
EAST
- New York Yankees and Mets, Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins
WEST
- Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels, San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Texas Rangers, Houston Astros, Seattle Mariners
CENTRAL
- Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins, Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers
LET’S FUCKING GOOOO. Barring a dramatic spike in COVID-19 cases in the next couple of months, we are getting Major League Baseball in 2020. And the best part? The Dodgers are still in a prime position to win their “division”…it’s a good thing both the NL and AL West are relatively weak. Don’t get me wrong…the Angels, with the addition of Rendon and a healthy Ohtani will be far more imposing than they were last season, and as much as I hate to admit it, the Astros are very good. Ultimately, it’ll make for some interesting matchups that we never would’ve seen had the season commenced as usual. Of course, I’d rather we not be in the middle of a pandemic right now, but to make light of the circumstances, it will (hopefully) give us an entertaining MLB season.
And do I care that games will more than likely be played in front of no fans? Absolutely not. Let’s be honest…baseball isn’t a sport that feeds off of a crowd the way football and basketball do. Playing in front of hardly any fans is common in college and even the minor leagues, so it might even be nostalgic for some of these guys. It’ll take them back to the days where they had to skip Intro to Finance to play a midweek game in front of twelve people, most of whom were parents plus the random superfan. And for the guys who didn’t go to college, do you think there were ever any fans at their 1 pm games in small-town Iowa or wherever else they played rookie ball? Nah. Won’t be a problem.
Nightengale snuck in a line about how if all things go according to plan and we get the virus under control, we could see “several thousand fans in attendance before or during the playoffs”. If there’s any chance they let fans into games this season, the only game I would need to attend this season to die happy would be the Astros at Dodger Stadium. Hell, I’ll even go to and Angels game if it means I can heckle the shit out of the Astros the entire game.
Things are changing every day in America because of COVID-19, so I’m trying not to get ahead of myself, but I can’t help but feel optimistic that this report will come to fruition. With so many MLB officials and even Scott Boras so confident that baseball will return, it’s bound to happen. And with baseball set to return, I’m even softening on my stance that the NBA won’t continue this year. Things are definitely looking up in the sports world, and especially for Los Angeles’ teams. Now if everyone could just stay the fuck home until public health officials deem it safe to return to life as normal, it would help expedite this process entirely!
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