For now, it appears baseball will be back.
After months of a nasty back and forth between MLB and the Players Association following a delay due to the coronavirus pandemic, we’re on our way to a July 23 or 24th start. For the A’s, that means they’re ready to head back home.
According to The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser, on Monday, the county’s Health Care Services Agency informed the A’s that the Oakland Alameda Coliseum was ready to use.
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“We are pleased to share that the A’s may resume operations and on-field practice as of June 26, 2020, and games without spectators may commence after July 3, 2020,” HCSA director Colleen Chawla wrote in a letter to the A’s on Monday.
Additionally, after the team deferred a $1.2 million rental payment due to lack of use to the Coliseum last month, the team has paid it in full, Slusser reported.
"Spring training 2.0" is set for July 1, when teams will report to their respective cities.
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Many coronavirus outbreaks have been reported at training facilities in Florida and Arizona as players and staff members attempt to pick things back up. Multiple members of the Philadelphia Phillies organization and three staff members recently all tested positive.
The original 67-page safety protocols developed for the players and the league will have alterations and certainly more additions, but for the time being, baseball is back on and the players have a place to go.