It May Be That Former Athletics 3B Trevor Plouffe Had Good Sources About MLB Restart

Reports are that the players' association will get a proposal from Major League Baseball within the next week about the possible start of the 2020 season. A July 1 opener is a possibility, as is a June 10 start to spring training.

We may know by this time next week the status of Major League Baseball as the sport struggles to open with the first six weeks of the 162-game season having already been canceled.

MLB is expected to send a proposal to the Major League Baseball Players’ Association within the next week according to a report from theathletic.com’s Ken Rosenthal.

According to the story, the Cleveland Indians have told the club’s players to figure on July 1 as a potential opening day with June 10 as the proposed start of a second spring training.

Those dates match with those put forward by former Oakland A’s third baseman Trevor Plouffe in a tweet Tuesday. Plouffe, who played half a season with the A’s in 2017 and who retired after the 2018 season, cited multiple sources.

While the powers-that-be in the sport remain confident that some sort of season will take place despite the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic that has shut down the season’s start, the unnamed officials apparently made it clear that the June 10 and July 1 dates were mere targets and seem likely to change.

Just how the season will play out is a matter of continuous discussion. Plouffe, who said in a subsequent tweet that he had received texts from players on six different teams that confirmed the dates he first put out there, said that he was hearing that teams would play in their home parks, although the season would start with no fans allowed.

But there are questions whether or not some states like California (five MLB teams), Illinois (two) and New York (two) might not give the governmental approval to have stadiums opened on dates that MLB is currently anticipating.

Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3

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