Braves could win a Grapefruit League South Division

Bob Nightengale of the USA Today reported Friday that one of the scenarios being kicked around by Major League Baseball is to basically have the Grapefruit League and the Cactus League replace the National League and American League in a truncated 2020 baseball season.

MLB considering radical realignment as one of their options for 2020 season: Grapefruit and Cactus leagues https://t.co/vLQTG4ezgu
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) April 10, 2020

The 15 teams that train every March in Florida would make up the Grapefruit League, while the other 15 teams that spend their exhibition seasons in Arizona would make up the Cactus League. The teams would be placed in three divisions in each league based on the proximity of their spring training homes.

Nigtengale reported there would be no fans, and the players and coaches would instead be in the stands practicing social distancing. Twenty-six different ballparks would be used, including domed stadiums in Miami, St. Petersburg and Phoenix.

Teams would play 12 games apiece against their new division opponents, totaling 48 games, while they’d also play six games each with the other teams in the state.

Another probability would be that both leagues would use the designated hitter, meaning the days of seeing pitchers hit in MLB are likely over.

According to Nigtengale, one scenario would have the Braves in the Grapefruit League’s South Division with Baltimore, Boston, Minnesota and Tampa Bay. Those are the four teams that train closest to North Port, the Braves’ new spring training home.

So, instead of the Braves competing with the Washington Nationals, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets and the Florida Marlins in the NL East, they would have to worry about the Twins, Rays, Red Sox and Orioles.

How would the Braves do in that scenario against those four teams?

The Orioles are rebuilding, and the Red Sox aren’t the same with Mookie Betts and David Price in Los Angeles and Chris Sale recovering from Tommy John surgery. That would leave the Twins (101-61 last season) and the Rays (96-66) as Atlanta’s main competition.

The first thing that stands out about the Twins is their new third baseman would be very familiar. Josh Donaldson would get 12 chances to go up against the team he played for last season. He is part of a very potent lineup that also includes Max Kepler (36 home runs), Miguel Sano (34) Eddie Rosario (32), Mitch Garver (31), Jorge Polanco (22) and Marwin Gonzalez (15).

The Twins already led the Major Leagues last season with 307 home runs, and with Donaldson their lineup is even more dangerous.

Minnesota’s pitching staff has changed a lot since last season. Gone are Martin Perez and Kyle Gibson, two pitchers who both made 29 starts in 2019. Kenta Maeda, Rich Hill, Homer Bailey and Jhoulys Chacin could be candidates to join Jose Berrios, Jake Odorizzi and Michael Pineda in the Twins rotation.

The Rays have made several additions to their lineup, as well. Jose Martinez (from St. Louis) and two former Padres (Manuel Margot and Hunter Renfroe) will join a lineup that includes Austin Meadows (33 home runs last season), Willy Adames (20) Ji-Man Choi (19) and Brandon Lowe (17).

Plus, the Rays had the best team ERA in the American League last season with a 3.65 mark. Former Brave Charlie Morton leads the rotation, with Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow still two of the best young arms in the game.

With the Braves possibly having to use the designated hitter, Marcell Ozuna could be the perfect candidate. He’s averaged 28 home runs in his last four seasons, and with his defense slipping, telling Ozuna to just go hit may make him even more dangerous.

Plus, Ender Inciarte would then play center field, with Ronald Acuna, Jr. playing left. The Braves could then platoon Nick Markakis and Adam Duvall in right field. They would have a great outfield defense, and again, Ozuna could simply concentrate on hitting – something he’s very good at doing.

On paper, the Braves stack up well with the Twins and Rays, and the difference could be in the bullpen. With the addition of Will Smith, along with the return of Chris Martin and Darren O’Day, the Braves bullpen is the deepest in baseball. Mark Melancon, Shane Greene and Luke Jackson give the Braves the top six relievers in any bullpen in the game.

Baseball will do what we’re all doing – wait until the end of April/first of May to see where we are as a nation before trying to put something more concrete together for a season. This option does seem to be legitimate, with the teams able to avoid a lot of travel if they simply remain in one main area.

Of course, we must have quick testing for the virus and a comfortability that if one player tests positive, the game won’t be quickly shut down. We can’t see any sport start and stop over and over based on one player getting the virus, so there are still a lot of things to figure out once we are given some sort of go-ahead from the government.

But if this is what baseball decides to do, the Braves will have a huge test against two very good teams. It’ll be a challenge, but if the players have the same mindset they had in February and March, the Braves will be ready to prove they can be the best team in the Grapefruit League South Division just like they planned for the National League East.

Listen to The Bill Shanks Show weekdays at 3:00 p.m. ET on Middle Georgia’s ESPN. You can listen online at TheSuperStations.com. Follow Bill on Twitter at @billshanks and you can email him at thebillshanksshow@yahoo.com.