With Opening Day delayed, the MLB Players’ Association has taken matters into their own hands in order to prepare for the now shortened 2022 regular season.
According to Robert Murray of FanSided, the MLBPA has organized a fully staffed training facility in Mesa, AZ at Bell Bank Park for players to train and stay in shape until the lockout is settled. Murray also noted that there is interest in doing the same in Florida.
This is a great idea, and it’s good to see the players taking matters into their own hands. The biggest problem with the lockout is that players are not allowed to use team facilities until it is settled, and though they’re likely able to train away from those facilities, it’s important that they have somewhere to go in the meantime to avoid the risk of injuries.
Murray also notes that these facilities could play host to a number of different baseball activities, including games, if the players so desired. It’s hard to imagine that the players wouldn’t want to play some mini-games in order to get their reps in.
So you might be wondering whether or not teams could play each other. The answer is, probably not, unfortunately. But we could see teams do little intrasquad games, just as they did during the 2020 “Summer Camp” before baseball returned from the COVID shutdown.
These “games” were basically split squad games that you might see in Spring Training, when one squad plays a game against one team and a second squad plays another at a different ballpark. The only difference is that these two “squads” would be playing against each other. The intrasquad games in 2020 typically lasted five innings or so. Some teams even made the games available for their fans to stream on mobile devices.
So it’s hard to imagine the players not wanting to do this, and the owners would be silly to not let them. Players need to get their reps in and be prepared for whenever the season starts. And if they can’t access team facilities, they should at least be given free reign to do whatever they want at these facilities.
It’s worth noting that minor league players are still allowed to show up to team facilities. But if teams are playing these games in Florida and Arizona, then those minor leaguers could make their way down to the MLBPA facilities and join them to get some reps in, at least until the minor league season starts, which is not affected by the lockout.
Now, whether or not we as fans would be able to stream these games if they happen is another matter. Due to the lockout, the teams would probably not be allowed to let fans stream the games. The regional sports channels are tied closely with teams, who run as factions of Major League Baseball, so we wouldn’t be able to watch the games there either.
But it is possible that local news channels could show these games, depending on whether or not media personnel attend these events. One would think they’d be allowed to do that. It’s also possible that local news publications could provide a streaming link on social media.
It may seem far fetched, but it’s not impossible, and it would give fans their baseball fix. Fans just need some form of baseball to watch while they wait for the lockout to end. This could theoretically work.
It’s kind of genius if you think about it.
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