Is the Coliseum Ready if Athletics and MLB Get Going With Spring Training in June?

With three clubhouses and two batting cages, the Oakland Athletics could make the Coliseum work for Spring Training II if the decision is made to hold it here. But there is a shortage of pitching mounds, so something might have to be done if the A's bring 50 players in to get Major League Baseball up and running again.

Let’s assume for the moment that Major League Baseball returns in June, and let’s assume further that teams train in their own facilities.

Those are some lofty assumptions, but you’ve got to start somewhere, and MLB is using this as a place to start.

Spring Training II would probably start in the spring, perhaps around June 15, but it is likely to finish up in summer as the seasons change on June 20, and the proposals that MLB is toying with includes bringing 50 players into camp with the roster eventually being trimmed to 30 for the start of the season the first week of July.

For the Oakland A’s, how would that work out?

As we wrote yesterday, enforcing social distancing in the clubhouse would be a problem. Even using the Raiders old locker room wouldn’t create enough space. For Spring Training II, the A’s could also use the visiting clubhouse, too.

A possible breakdown would have about 15-17 pitchers in the main clubhouse, 15-17 position players in the Raiders’ locker room and have the remainder work out of the visiting clubhouse.

One thing the A’s are doing is mulling over staggered starts when the full group reports. If 10 pitchers are down to throw on any given day, half of those pitchers might report early, along with a small group of catchers. The second group could report two or three hours later, thereby reducing the amount of interaction in the clubhouse.

Baseball’s proposal is calling for outdoor batting cages to be used rather than indoor ones, and the A’s do have a large outdoor batting cage in center fielder under Mt. Davis and the bleachers. But the closest cages are immediately adjacent to the Raiders’ locker room and up a set of stairs from the home clubhouse.

Despite MLB’s preference for outdoor batting cages, the Coliseum indoor cage probably could be used because it’s carved out of what used to be the Coliseum’s exhibition hall, and it comes with ceilings that approach 30 feet high, so while it’s not outdoors, there is plenty of open space there.

Pitchers’ work is going to be a little trickier. In Arizona, the A’s, like most clubs, have a dedicated series of mounds where a half dozen or so pitchers can throw at any given time, meaning pitching coach Scott Emerson, manager Bob Melvin and the front office staff can keep an eye one everybody.

At the Coliseum, however there are just five mounds, two in the home bullpen, two in the visiting bullpen and the main mound on the field. It’s possible that some of the batting cages could be repurposed, however, if needed.

The clubhouse kitchens that had been used to prepare meals, coffee, water and sports drinks for players will have to be altered. Meals will be prepared and served in a bag or a box, takeout style, and pre- and postgame meals.

That would seem to make less work for the clubhouse staff, but there will be new duties. It’s likely that one or two of the clubhouse workers will be assigned full time to cleaning and disinfecting. Under the rules, most everything handled by anybody, up to and including dugout phones, are supposed to be immediately disinfected.

Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3

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