For the last week or so, reports have been trickling in of an eventual 2020 season that would begin in the early part of July. Then on Monday, former Twins third baseman, Trevor Plouffe, tweeted out an actual date spring training would pick back up along with one for an actual opening day. He explained his announcement in further detail on Talkin’ Baseball:
List of people confirming a June 10 start date for MLB "Spring Training" is growing!@trevorplouffe's been quiet since his BIG UPDATE. Here's his message to the world 👇
We talk about this in depth on the new episode of Talkin' Baseball dropping first thing tomorrow morning 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/nI1eYX9EZA
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 5, 2020
Afterward, there were reports denying the accuracy of the Plouffe bomb.
Then early this morning, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the Cleveland Indians were informing players to prepare for the season to begin on or around July 1st. He would also go on to mention the hoops the league would have to jump through in order for a season to play out regardless of the rumored proposed scenarios and that, according to his sources, there was no confirmation of a plan in the works.
Later in the day, Jeff Passan of ESPN went on Sportscenter and dropped his own bomb:
.@JeffPassan said on SportsCenter that MLB teams are telling players to "get ready."
"The expectation is that MLB is going to be coming to the Players Association with a plan in the coming days, week-plus or so."#NeverForget: @trevorplouffe had it first pic.twitter.com/4EGVl1pZsB
— Kyle Kondor (@Kyle_Kondor) May 6, 2020
Joel Sherman of The New York Post confirmed Passan’s news with his own report while adding this:
By the beginning of next week at the latest — perhaps even before this week is concluded — MLB is planning to present to the Players Association a proposal that will include what is currently the most optimistic hope: What would a season look like if spring training 2.0 began in June and the regular season in July?
The sides are doing this now just in case the rosiest scenario plays out and — among many current hurdles — health officials open up enough locales to allow the renewal of spring training in 6-8 weeks.
But like Ken Rosenthal’s report, Sherman’s came with similar caveats:
The obstacles to returning to play, though, remain significant. The numbers of Americans contracting and dying from the coronavirus are going up in a few areas where MLB wants to play. There have yet to be clear signals that the league will be provided enough green lights to return all the teams to either their home or spring sites and that the clubs will have the equipment, tests and medical personnel necessary to do so.
Rosenthal would then follow up confirming Passan and Sherman’s news:
Source confirms: MLB plans to give union a proposal regarding start of the season within a week. Wrote today about the continuing difficulty of formulating a plan. https://t.co/fGMrWJErJh Start dates remain fluid. Both @JeffPassan and @Joelsherman1 mentioned proposal coming soon.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) May 6, 2020
It’s a little over 1 month of the suspected commencement for spring training 2.0. The next few weeks will be crucial in deciding what Major League Baseball will do next.
Oskar is a writer for Dodgers-Lowdown. Follow him on Twitter @2rawsko94. Graphic credit: aNb Media, Inc.