As it continues to scramble in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Major League Baseball is reportedly willing to think outside the box when it comes to the 2020 regular season. According to USA Today, MLB is looking at several proposals for saving the season, including one that would dramatically alter how teams are aligned.
The proposal would do away with the traditional National League and American League distinction, as well as the East/Central/West divisions, in favor of setting up MLB into the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues that match up with teams’ spring training homes. Grapefruit League teams would be based out of Florida, while Cactus League teams would set up shop in Arizona.
While there had been reports that MLB was considering hosting regular season games in spring training stadiums, particularly those in Arizona, this proposal dives in further by splitting teams into new divisions based on the geographical location of their spring training homes within each of these states. Just to point out how bizarre this would be, the Yankees would be slotted into the Grapefruit North division, while their forever-rival Red Sox would be in the Grapefruit South division.
The proposal is nowhere near finalized, and while you can see the full divisions layout on USA Today, the plan likely would undergo some major tweaks before implementation, if it ever gets that far. Seeing as how it will be extremely difficult to host games during the pandemic, it’s possible this is all nothing more than a thought experiment. But that one of the biggest sports leagues in the world is willing to even consider such a radical change to its normal operations drives home, yet again, how strange these current times are for sports and all those who are in their periphery.
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Read the full story at USA Today
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