Teams might conduct Spring Training 2.0 at their home fields
Major League Baseball continues its efforts to reach a point in which is favorable to resume baseball activity this year. The league is already getting ready for a possible comeback to their Spring Training ballparks, but not to the ones located in Florida and Arizona as was originally suggested. Instead, they could hold practices at their own home fields. The report was made by USA Today Sports, but no names of who was given the information were shared as MLB has not reached a final decision yet.
According to the report, this option got stronger in an effort to save time and money. If the league can be resumed this year, the training camps are expected to last for at least three weeks before the disrupted regular season can be resumed. Facing the financial crisis that the coronavirus pandemic has caused, even to major sports leagues, having the training camps in their respective homes will save the money that otherwise would be spent in hotel rooms and per diem for all the players during Spring Training 2.0. Besides that, time is not something the league has in abundance this year, so this decision will also save precious time for this shortened season.
One concern raised if teams go back to training camps, according to the executives, is that teams will have access to only one field instead of the six spring training sites that are typically available. Another disadvantage is that teams will play against intra-squad teams during that time, especially those located outside of cities with two teams. Lastly, some uncertainty regarding that weather could affect some of the teams from having a successful training camp.
