MLB News and Notes: The Return Of Baseball?

While we should be weeks into the 2020 Major League Baseball season, we instead find ourselves without not only baseball but all major sports in the nation. Even though sports have essentially come to a screeching halt, there has still been news making its way around the league. Let’s take a look at some of the major news from this last week.
Could Baseball Be Back Next Month?
According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the answer to this question is possibly. Supposedly, one of the angles MLB is looking at is to return exclusively to Arizona. Between Chase Field (where the Diamondbacks play) and the spring training venues in the area, there have been talks about playing out the season exclusively in this location.
Under this idea, teams would essentially be isolated from their families and would probably have to play multiple games between multiple teams at multiple stadiums each day. For instance, Scott Boras suggested that up to three games could be played per day at Chase Field.
There are a lot of hurdles to get over first. For instance, between concerns of the continuing pandemic and the idea of being away from their families for multiple months, there may be some players who are against the idea.
If that is the case, how does the league get around this? Also, if one player, coach or stadium personnel were to test positive for the coronavirus, would the whole league have to shut down again, or how would they approach the issue?
Also, there is the concern of the minor leagues. While playing major league baseball in one area is fine, the minor leagues would have to be in operation too.
For instance, if someone were to get injured, a team would want to call up someone from one of their minor league affiliates. If they aren’t playing, though, how do they make sure that the minor leaguers are ready to be called up?
On the flip side, there would certainly be reasons why players and the Player’s Union could be on board. For instance, right now, many players are not making their full paychecks, so a return to their contractual salaries could be welcoming for many.
Also, with an abrupt spring training and with players not fully stretched out, there is the possibility that rosters could expand, another thing that the union would not be opposed to.
Certainly, there are a lot of logistics that need to be found out, and MLB itself even downplayed the idea Tuesday morning, but it still remains an interesting possibility for the first major sport to resume play.
Bautista The Pitcher?
The concept of two-way players is becoming increasingly interesting for Major League ball clubs. To have a legitimate bat in the lineup that can also hold his own pitching would be a luxury for most clubs.
Despite his injury, Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels demonstrated how valuable one can be by showing he can be a legitimate middle of the order hitter and number one or number two in the rotation.
Still, as novel as the concept is, it is even more peculiar to hear of a 39-year-old trying to do it. Jose Bautista is trying to do exactly that, though. Bautista has not played in the majors since 2018, but he is trying to make a comeback as a pitcher.
The last time that he played was with three NL East teams in the Braves, Mets and Phillies, where he hit a combined .203/.348/.378 with 13 home runs, 48 runs batted in and 52 runs scored.
He seems to have the endorsement of at least one person. Marcus Stroman, a pitcher for the Mets, has posted video of Bautista pitching on his social media and has said that he could definitely pitch in a major league bullpen.
It remains to be seen if he can do it or not, but if he can make it back as a pitcher, it would be one heck of a story.