Atlanta Braves: MLB throwing cold water on leaked restart plan

Reports from early this morning about a plan to get the Atlanta Braves and the rest of major league baseball back onto the field by late May got a ‘not so fast’ response from the MLB.  But it could happen.

Well, we told you that this wasn’t going to be an easy fix.  But there are still reasons that the Atlanta Braves and MLB might be dragged into this “All Arizona, All The Time” plan to jump-start the sport in either late May or early June… despite the evident problems.

When the news broke this morning, it came as a breath of fresh air to all baseball fans:  a plan to start the season even before things are fully back to whatever-passes-as-normal in our lives.

Then came the follow-up messages, which included this statement from the MLB offices, which says in part:

"“MLB has been actively considering numerous contingency plans that would allow play to commence once the public health situation has improved to the point that it is safe to do so.While we have discussed the idea of staging games at one location as one potential option, we have not settled on that option or developed a detailed plan.”"

Well, dangnabbit. That’s a classic “you reporters let the cat out of the bag too soon” statement.

At the same time, MLB didn’t reject the leak completely… and there’s a reason.

It’s About Money.  Regardless of the notes of logistical concerns we raised last week, know this:  if there is any way the MLB and MLBPA can get this show on the road… they are going to do it.

Team owners are hemorrhaging cash during this hiatus in the sport and the players aren’t getting paid either – other than their temporary stipends.  For those under multi-year deals and those in their arbitration years, the losses will be in the millions.

While that kind of ‘First World Problem’ doesn’t translate to you or me, it does represent a degree of motivation to get things going.

But since the report from this morning, reporters have been considering the problems that might be encountered of playing all games in the greater Phoenix area… things we noted previously, like:

• Having to effectively quarantine all players and staff to either their hotel, their buses, or the stadium… potentially for months.
• Having 11 stadiums to work with guarantees multiple games at 1+ sites per day (since 30 teams will have to play).  While that can be done, it essentially requires some of the extra-inning gimmickry that we complained about over last weekend.
  • If you have a pair of teams playing at 2 pm, let’s say, and another game scheduled for 8 pm with a different pair of teams, you can’t allow Game 1 to go 13 or 15 innings… the second game teams (with batting practice, infield, etc.) need to have their regular 2 hour warmup period.
  • Even without extra innings, there could be a time limit (I’m looking at you, Red Sox and Yankees!) for the same reason.
  • Okay, so put the American League games last since they seem to go longer.  Ah, but play under different sets of rules?  That should never be… designated hitter rule notwithstanding.

Even with all of this:  don’t be surprised if momentum doesn’t build to make this happen.

The owners won’t be able to recoup all of their losses, but they would at least lose money at a slower rate.

Once a few players get on board with the plan, then the pressure will start to mount for others to fall into line as well.  Then we’ll all start to get familiar with Arizona venues like ‘Goodyear’, ‘Surprise’, or ‘Hohokam’ that we’ve never had to concern ourselves with before.

It’s not so much about public health or improving the general morale of the populace or anything like that.  It would ultimately be about money.  That’s the basic reality, but it very well could happen.

Is this the right way to get our Atlanta Braves back onto the field… or do we care?