MLB: Spring training delay looms for 2021

According to reports, MLB is discussing a four-to-six week delay to the start of spring training in 2021.

The World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers will open preparation for the defense of their title with a spring training game against the Chicago Cubs Feb. 27. Or not.

As with seemingly everything else in and out of the sports world these days, Covid will have the final say.

Newark Star-Ledger sportswriter Bob Klapisch raised the specter of a delay in the opening of training camps  – as in four to six weeks – in a tweet posted Wednesday. If he’s right, that would push back MLB Opening Day into May and force a second consecutive season with something less than a normal schedule.

As for the prospect of playing in front of fans, that remains as complicated a  subject as it has always been, mixing MLB policy with local regulations, both of which are greatly influenced by developments on the Covid front.

MLB officials have not confirmed that consideration is being given to delaying the start of spring training, but it would be more surprising if such discussions were not being held. For starters, so many of the issues that influence such a decision are outside their immediate control.

Notwithstanding the recent positive reports regarding candidate vaccines, there’s no certainty yet that a vaccine will actually work, no specific timeline for its availability, no consideration for how to handle people who decide for one reason or another not to get it, no clarity on how local officials will react to the idea of permitting gatherings on any scale beyond the minute, and no indication at what point stadiums might be re-opened at full capacity.

All those factors bear upon the likelihood of playing games, especially if one hopes to make a buck out of doing so. And rest assured, club owners do hope to make a buck in 2021.

The most optimistic estimates to date do not envision large-scale availability of a vaccine before some time in the spring. While teams are undeniably eager to play games in front of big crowds, they may – for obvious economic reasons – be less interested in repeating the 2020 experience of playing in front of cardboard cutouts.

If the season is shortened, that may also prompt another round of negotiations with the Major League Baseball players Association over how to handle player salaries under whatever reduced revenue conditions hold sway in 2021. Those negotiations might further delay the start of the season.