There's A Lot of Smoke Surrounding the Start of the MLB Season, But Where's the Fire?

Speculation is rising regarding the start of the MLB season. Unfortunately, we still don't know if and when MLB will return.

The start of the KBO season has baseball fans in North America and all around the world wondering when Major League Baseball could possibly return amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The quick and easy answer: we still don't know.

Obviously, there's much more to unpack here. There's a myriad of variables for MLB to consider regarding the start of the season, the most relevant being if government and public health officials even allow baseball or any other sport to be played in 2020. 

On Monday afternoon, a tweet from former-Major League player Trevor Plouffe sent baseball fans into a frenzy as it gave fans some gleam of hope for the beginning of the baseball season.

Want some good baseball news??

I just heard from multiple sources that on June 10th, Spring Training 2 will start. July 1st will be Opening Day and all teams will be playing at their home ballparks.

We’ll be discussing it in full on the next @TalkinBaseball_

— Coach Trev (@trevorplouffe) May 4, 2020

The quick trigger of the "retweet" button had the information spreading like wildfire. Yet, a number of local and national reporters at least questioned the veracity of Plouffe's update.

The alleged July 1 start date for an MLB season would be wonderful; they’d love to begin then (or close to then), but while there’s hope, things aren’t as certain as that. MLB is still hearing conflicting info from politicians and doctors, and health concerns remain the priority.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 5, 2020

MLB execs have not apprised the union of any particular proposed starting to date fir a season, and at this point, the sense is July 1 could be on the optimistic side. It isn’t ruled out but it isn’t close to a likelihood — not yet, anyway.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 5, 2020

In an interview with ESPN published on Tuesday, MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark gave a little closer insight into all of the contingency plans – both public and private – that have been reportedly discussed by MLB:

"Despite all that has been floated and all the rhetoric that is out there, we have not received anything formal that details an actual plan. To Carlos [Correa]'s point, unless or until we see and receive an actual proposal with a plan or plans -- because my guess is there's going to need to be flexibility in whatever is going to be considered -- it's all assumptions. It lends itself to the uncertainty because there's a lot of ideations, but not any substance behind them just yet."

On Wednesday, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported that the Cleveland Indians had given their players a "mark in the sand" for a potential Opening Day on July 1, which is the same date that Trevor Plouffe mentions in his tweet. However, Rosenthal's report says that Indians officials "made it clear the dates were mere targets, fully expected to change."

When there's conflicting reports, especially on something as impactful as the resumption of sports during a pandemic, it's best to chop it up as conjecture. Despite pushback, Plouffe stands by what he reported in his original tweet.

List of people confirming a June 10 start date for MLB "Spring Training" is growing!@trevorplouffe's been quiet since his BIG UPDATE. Here's his message to the world 👇

We talk about this in depth on the new episode of Talkin' Baseball dropping first thing tomorrow morning 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/nI1eYX9EZA

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 5, 2020

I have texts from players in 6 different orgs telling me that they are being told to be ready for those dates. https://t.co/WNKfWqiEEc

— Coach Trev (@trevorplouffe) May 6, 2020

The one thing that is true: there's a lot of smoke regarding the return of baseball. Lots of smoke, but everyone's scrambling around trying to find the fire. Maybe there is one. Even more smoke arose when ESPN's Jeff Passan reported on Wednesday another reason for optimism:

"The expectation around baseball right now is that Major League Baseball is going to be coming to the Players Association with a plan in the coming days to a week-plus or so, and during that time we're going to get a much better sense of when baseball could actually start in the United States."

Everyone wants that "mark in the sand" mentioned by Rosenthal to quickly become etched in concrete. Unfortunately, we're not there yet. And if MLB had any kind of ironclad plan in place regarding the start of the season, it's difficult to fathom why they'd keep that information under wraps for very long. The first league that resumes its play stands to be the huge beneficiary of many, many viewers. 

So, when will the MLB season start? Unfortunately, we still don't know for sure. It could be July 1. Hopefully, it's sometime soon. We will surely get more solid details in the coming days. Until then, it's still just a hope.

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