Headlines

  • Astros Sign Martin Maldonado To One-Year Extension
  • No Extension Negotiations Between Braves, Freddie Freeman
  • Adrian Morejon To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Neil Walker Announces Retirement
  • Yasiel Puig To Sign With Mexican League Team
  • Starling Marte Suffers Fractured Rib
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Indians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2020-21 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2021
    • 2021 MLB Arbitration Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • Last 100 Comments
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

MLB Preparing Operations Manual For Postseason “Bubble” Format

By Mark Polishuk | August 18, 2020 at 12:54pm CDT

Major League Baseball has begun creating an operations manual outlining the procedures necessary for a neutral-site “bubble” setup for the 2020 postseason, ESPN.com’s Emily Kaplan and Jeff Passan write.  Though still in the early stages, the fact that the league is taking such preparatory steps indicates that the new staging format could very possibly happen for October’s games.

MLB’s plan would most closely resemble the NHL’s bubble format for its ongoing Stanley Cup playoffs.  Kaplan and Passan outline the NHL’s plan for those unfamiliar, detailing such aspects as COVID-19 testing, what life is like for players inside of the “bubble” (actually two areas in downtown Toronto and Edmonton that contain the arenas, hotels, and other amenities, with the entire area closed off to the public) as well the challenges of maintaining this environment while also keeping the postseason’s competitive integrity intact.

In theory, the 2020 Major League Baseball playoffs could adopt something of the same format, with two host cities — or at least host areas — staging the National League and American League’s games.  Texas and southern California are “early favorites” to be hub areas, Kaplan/Passan write, with New York and the Chicago/Milwaukee also under consideration.  One would imagine that Texas and SoCal would be favored in part because of the likelihood of better weather conditions for October baseball than the more northern cities, though Milwaukee’s Miller Park at least has a roof.  It is possible different cities could be used for different postseason rounds — Kaplan and Passan write about a scenario that would see, for instances, each league’s division series played in San Diego and Arlington, and then another city could be used for the two LCS matchups as well as the World Series.

While MLB is already in the planning stages and they do have the benefit of learning from how the NHL and NBA have already launched and maintained their bubbles for postseason play, there are still a lot of obvious complications ahead should baseball try to install such a plan for October.  For one, baseball will be heading into its playoffs directly on the heels of the regular season, while the NHL and NBA had months during the pandemic lockdown to plan and prepare for their restarts.  Both the MLB office and league owners have openly expressed concern about extending the season much beyond October due to fears of a possible second COVID-19 wave later in the year, and the mechanics of getting 16 teams (don’t forget, MLB has an expanded playoffs this year) safely into the bubble and completing enough testing to start playoff games might require some extra time.

Share 0 Retweet 6 Send via email0

Coronavirus

Rays Acquire Edgar Garcia; Designate Daniel Robertson
Main
Royals To Promote Matt Harvey
View Comments (16)
newest oldest

Comments

  1. goalieguy41

    8 months ago

    Toronto

    Like
    Reply
    • wild bill tetley

      8 months ago

      Highly unlikely.

      Like
      Reply
  2. Rangers29

    8 months ago

    Told you so.

    Like
    Reply
    • stollcm

      8 months ago

      Thanks for that….

      Like
      Reply
      • Rangers29

        8 months ago

        Lol, the reason I say that is, because on the article that was posted a few days ago about the bubble, I said that Texas is one of the states they will look to for this.

        Like
        Reply
  3. dave frost nhlpa

    8 months ago

    BEEN SAYING THOSE SAME CITIES FOR A MONTH.

    Like
    Reply
    • wild bill tetley

      8 months ago

      Couldn’t pull it off with 30 teams. 16 yes. Not 30. You’ve said absolutely nothing.

      Like
      Reply
  4. tigerdoc616

    8 months ago

    A bubble could work. NBA succeeding so far with the bubble in Orlando, and Florida is one of the worse states for COVID right now. The key is, and will be, will the players behave and stay in the bubble.

    Despite cases with the Reds, Cardinals, and Marlins, the current format is working for the most part. But we can’t be postponing games for weeks and doing multiple DH in the playoffs. LA makes sense, not only do they have Dodger Stadium and the Angels stadium, but San Diego is not that far away. The issue with Texas is that Houston and Arlington are about a 4 hour drive apart so would have to set up two separate hubs in Texas.

    Like
    Reply
    • Rangers29

      8 months ago

      Though remember this, Arlington also has Globe Life Park within throwing distance of the new Globe Life Field. Both are MLB ready, and the Park (despite being used in the XFL last year), is the Rangers alternate training site, and is ready for MLB action anytime (weather permitting). Another thing is that Field and Park are two completely different places, one is a pitchers park, one a hitter’s domain. That would be cool to see.

      Like
      Reply
  5. forwhomjoshbelltolls

    8 months ago

    “MLB’s plan would most closely resemble the NHL’s bubble format for its ongoing Stanley Cup playoffs.”

    Manfred finally took the advice to copy everything the NHL does and just switch the words hockey and baseball.

    Smart.

    The only issue is that you need more fields because they play every day instead of every other day. New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and SF/Oakland could all work.

    Do NOT host the World Series in a minor league ballpark. Free advice. Has to be in an MLB stadium.

    Like
    Reply
    • wild bill tetley

      8 months ago

      Because it HAS to be an MLB park, that is why there wasn’t a bubble in the first place. Trying to schedule 15 games in a day would’ve been difficult. At least with 16 teams that brings it down to 8. That can be done. But you need to add Miami/Tampa in the mix. Domed parks.

      Like
      Reply
      • mgomrjsurf

        8 months ago

        Also Orlando to list because have a Stadium in place,other Ball fields at Disney Wide World of Sports or that could just be Basketball but also have Tinker field is still Stading and also if needed where Jags,Bucs,Dolphins play just got to turn Grass into a Baseball Diamond. same with where Dallas Cowboys play or where other Football teams play that on a dome.

        Like
        Reply
  6. grouchonyy

    8 months ago

    What’s the point of a bubble if the bubble changes up to four times? Also time zones have to be factored in for night games. East coast teams don’t want to start games at 10 pm or later. An east coast site is necessary until, at least, the World Series. Also, this would kill home field advantage for finishing first in your division.

    1 Like
    Reply
  7. allphilly

    8 months ago

    Seems to make sense to go somewhere that has a roof on the ballpark.

    Like
    Reply
  8. AaronSapoznik

    8 months ago

    In hindsight, MLB is probably regretting that they didn’t do this for the regular season as well.

    Like
    Reply
    • Cmurphy

      8 months ago

      They would have had a lot more players opting out in my opinion if they tried the bubble for 4 months.

      1 Like
      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Astros Sign Martin Maldonado To One-Year Extension

    No Extension Negotiations Between Braves, Freddie Freeman

    Adrian Morejon To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Neil Walker Announces Retirement

    Yasiel Puig To Sign With Mexican League Team

    Starling Marte Suffers Fractured Rib

    Jay Bruce Announces Retirement

    Nationals Place Stephen Strasburg On Injured List, Select Paolo Espino

    Cody Bellinger Has Hairline Fracture In Left Leg

    2021-22 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings

    Recent

    Dinelson Lamet To Undergo MRI After Leaving Start With Right Forearm Tightness

    East Notes: Braves, Smyly, Sale, Orioles, Kjerstad

    West Notes: Solano, Crawford, Rendon, Fiers, Pena

    Brewers To Reinstate Kolten Wong From Injured List

    Latest On Sixto Sanchez

    Anibal Sanchez Getting Interest From Three Teams

    Why Subscribe To Trade Rumors Front Office?

    Cam Bedrosian Elects Free Agency

    Padres Activate Dinelson Lamet

    Pirates Claim Ka’ai Tom, Designate Anthony Alford For Assignment

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Kris Bryant Rumors
    • Francisco Lindor Rumors
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • 2020-21 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2021
    • 2021 MLB Arbitration Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Indians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version