• Major League Baseball is reportedly working on a plan to begin the 2020 season by May or June.
  • According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the plan would involve bringing all 30 MLB teams to play in the greater Phoenix area, isolating them from their families for an undetermined period of time.
  • On Twitter, fans called the plan “insane,” and “unsafe,” while questioning its feasibility.
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Major League Baseball is reportedly ready to do whatever is necessary to get the 2020 season started.

Opening Day was pushed back indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic, but according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the league is working towards a plan that would allow baseball to begin by May or June.

The proposed timeline would bring all 30 teams in the majors to the greater Phoenix area, where they would play at the Diamondbacks’ Chase Field as well as surrounding spring training facilities with no fans in attendance. The plan would also force players to live in isolation from their families for an indeterminate period as the season played out.

On Twitter, some fans were quick to call out the plan as “insane,” given the extreme measures that would be necessary to pull it off, and the huge ask it makes of players, coaches, and their families at what already is a daunting time in the country.

https://twitter.com/jaycaspiankang/status/1247401228348211205?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/GspotMMA/status/1247401681945530369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Passan acknowledged the particular difficulties the league's plan of voluntary, extended isolation presents.

Speaking with ESPN's "Get Up," Passan said that one player he spoke to initially said there was no way he would go along with such a plan, but after talking it over with his family, conceded that if a one-way ticket to Phoenix was the only way he got paid this season, he would probably make the trip.

Passan also said that such a calculation would be different for every player - those who are immuno-compromised, or taking care of family members, or any other number of reasons, could be strongly opposed to the league's plan.

Major League Baseball isn't the only league to have proposed such drastic measures to save its season. Similar plans have been floated for the NBA, NFL, and Premier League.

Passan's report offers more details of a proposed isolation plan than those that came it before it though, and thus brings up more questions that remain unanswered.

It's one thing to pitch the idea that "everyone will remain in isolation, and thus no one will get sick," but answering all of the logistical questions that come with moving an entire major sports league to one centralized location and playing out a season while social distancing is a far more complicated problem.

There's still a long way to go before MLB's plan comes to fruition, but it's clear that the league is ready to try whatever it takes to get the season going, but some fans don't seem convinced that the benefits outweigh the costs.

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