At this point in what would have been the regular season, the league has to consider every option to get games going. That’s what Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts said earlier this week, and it rings true with the latest news.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that MLB is looking into using Spring Training facilities to get games started. That option comes with its own headaches though, as keeping 30 teams completely isolated from the world could prove difficult.
The season, at least initially, could be played in Florida or more likely Arizona, where spring training parks are more concentrated. But the logistics of quarantining 30 teams in one area would be extremely complex and potentially controversial, sources say, requiring local, state and federal government cooperation and resources that might be necessary to fight the coronavirus pandemic. -Ken Rosenthal
The idea would be to play in warmer weather stadiums, where the COVID-19 virus would hopefully be less prevalent. That would put the Dodgers back at their home facility Camelback Ranch, located in Glendale, Arizona.
The issue is that having games played still makes it very difficult to keep the risk of infection low. There are at least 26 players per team, there are umpires, and there are all of the staff it would take to broadcast a game. The only real risk mitigated in this scenario is the fan-to-fan interaction, which may or may not be enough to convince state officials to allow games.
Playing games in an empty stadium is still better than no games at all, but Major League Baseball would lose a considerable amount of money without fans. Ticket sales generated over $10 billion in revenue for baseball last season, with the Dodgers being one of the highest-grossing teams. Television deals would essentially be the only source of income for teams if this scenario were to go through.
As of now, there are no official plans in place for baseball to get started. Several sources have July first circled on their calendars as the date MLB is shooting for, but a lot would have to happen between now and then.
NEXT: Yasiel Puig Helps Fans Stay In Shape During Quarantine
