Strange times we live in. The world and normalcy has come to a halt starting earlier in the year. When it comes to sports, one major 2020 season has yet to begin, America’s favorite past time, Major League Baseball (MLB).
Sports fans are itching to watch anything competitive, especially Twinkies fans after the club had a historic 2019 season.
Arguably one of the most exciting Twins seasons since they moved into Target Field; the 2019 Twins left Minnesotans wanting more. Unlike the recent offseasons, the front office has now added some key pieces to an already stacked roster.
Just as Target Field was dusting off the snow and the stadium staff were weeks away from a great summer, all major sports leagues in North America postponed their seasons due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
How can MLB resume games not only in a safe environment, but also give the players, coaches, and fans what they want? A (shortened) season!
How it would look
Here’s how the Twins can play 100 regular season games and make a run at a pennant.
If the league started before or on July 4th, which would be a great day to kick off America’s Pastime, and ended on Halloween, that would give MLB 120 days to squeeze in a 100 game season. A normal big league baseball season is 162 games per team (sometimes 163) in 185-190 days.
League Setup
There would be two “conferences” named after the spring training leagues. This scenario has been discussed by the MLB, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The 15 teams that have facilities in Florida would play there and the teams who have facilities in Arizona would play there. No traveling from AZ to FL and vise versa.
| Grapefruit League (Florida) | Cactus League (Arizona) |
| Braves | Angels |
| Orioles | Athletics |
| Red Sox | Brewers |
| Tigers | Cubs |
| Marlins | Diamondbacks |
| Cardinals | Dodgers |
| Astros | Giants |
| Twins | Indians |
| Mets | Mariners |
| Yankees | Padres |
| Phillies | Rangers |
| Pirates | Reds |
| Rays | Rockies |
| Blue Jays | Royals |
| Nationals | White Sox |
With two warmer states, baseball’s regular season could be extended into late October. Schedule makers would be putting in overtime trying to schedule an odd number of teams per proposed conference while working in possible doubleheaders and minor league games.
As for Minor League Baseball (MiLB) each team would have a farm system team play the same schedule but play 4 to 5 hours before. The value to having a MiLB system is to call up and send down players due to injury, fatigue or maybe sickness (hope not).
Playoffs
As for a playoff format, the top six teams from each conference would move on. The two winners from each conference would meet up in the World Series with a Super Bowl like site in November.. neutral stadium with a best of seven series. Hopefully by then fans will be allowed to attend games and with this World Series idea, it would be a fan appreciation event while Major League Baseball can still crown a champion during what seemed like a lost season.
To save the baseball season, they should take the 15 most eastern teams and have them play in Florida
— SkolMemes (@SkolMemes) April 11, 2020
The other 15 teams play in Arizona
No cross conference play
Top five or six from each location make the playoffs
You can still have 6 divisions with two leagues
Warm weather, easy travel, and the abundance of fields in the spring training states makes this framework logical.
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Stay safe and Go Twinks