M.L.B. Adjusts Expectations: ‘As Many Baseball Games in 2020 as We Can’

M.L.B. has not officially eliminated the idea of playing a full 162-game schedule, but privately, officials acknowledge that will almost certainly not happen if the C.D.C. maintains the eight-week timetable. The league would essentially be on hold until early- to mid-May, and teams would then need two or three weeks of spring training — at their camps in Florida or Arizona, or perhaps at their home ballparks — before the regular season could start.

While some officials hold out hope of opening the season by the middle of May, starting around Memorial Day (May 25) or early June seems more likely, probably with rosters initially expanded beyond the usual 26 players. The regular season is scheduled to end on Sept. 27, and one scenario under consideration is to make up some games after that and extend the postseason into November.

“We’re not going to announce an alternate opening day at this point,” Commissioner Rob Manfred told The St. Louis Post-Dispatch at the Cardinals’ complex in Jupiter, Fla., where he conducted a conference call with owners. “We’re going to have to see how things develop. I think the commitment of the clubs is to play as many baseball games in 2020 as we can, consistent with the safety of our players and our fans.”

The N.H.L. seemed to acknowledge a similar rough estimate on Monday — that games won’t start again until May at the earliest. In a statement, the league said it hoped to soon provide guidance “on the potential of opening a training camp period roughly 45 days into the 60-day period covered by the C.D.C.’s directive.” In that best-case scenario, training camps would begin in early May, with a resumed regular season or playoffs to begin afterward.

On Sunday, M.L.B. instructed players who are not on a 40-man roster to leave spring training complexes and return home, though the Yankees are keeping their minor leaguers under a two-week quarantine in Tampa, Fla., because one player has tested positive for Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/sports/baseball/mlb-season-opening-day.html