Atlanta Braves and the latest about 2020 major league season

Three different “hub” ideas as currently in discussion, though alas, the Atlanta Braves do not appear to be directly involved in any such plan.

It’s safe to suggest that no plan for resuming baseball is close yet, though the idea of having one or more operational “hubs” to host the Atlanta Braves and their 29 rivals remains persistent in all ideas finding their way to the press.

The idea that Jake floated the other day about using Tuist Park as a regional hub?  Unfortunately, that doesn’t appear to be gaining any traction as the three venues now under consideration involve Phoenix, Arlington Texas, and St. Petersburg Florida.

Each of the locations has a domed stadium available – that has to be a significant part of the attraction.  Arlington has a bit of a bonus – two stadiums, though Globe Life Park was set to become a football stadium, it’s reasonable that its changeover could be delayed if Arlington becomes a hub-site for the 2020 season.

But whether we’d be talking about one hub, two, or all three isn’t known yet.  There are pitfalls with each plan and the entire scheme is rooted in the assumption that all of baseball remains COVID-19-free … something that can never be guaranteed.

Some of the discussions would surely include the following:

• Summer heat in both Phoenix and Arlington, likely preventing a lot of games outside the domes.
• Likewise the possibility of drenching rains in Florida – those many times these are relatively short-lived storms.
• How to distribute thirty teams among the available options, or would there be some sort of rotation system?

Personally, the idea of putting roughly 6 teams at a time at Phoenix, another 6 at Arlington, and the balance all in Florida makes logical sense.

Heat is less of a concern in Florida and there are several available fields along the West-to-Southwest coast of Florida – all within reasonable traveling distance (including the Atlanta Braves facility at North Port).

How would the scheduling work?  Let’s speculate a bit further:  six teams at a given venue could – in theory – get 10 games in (2 vs. each foe) in 10 days’ time if there is a weather-viable means of getting 3 games in per day … which is at least plausible.  Repeat that, and you might be able to squeeze a total of 20 games in every 3 weeks.

That doesn’t allow a lot of chances for off-days or travel, but that’s the kind of problem the players might have to sign up for this year.

Regardless of how it ultimately shakes out, these kinds of problems are exactly what the planners and negotiators are having to wade through right now.