Since the COVID19 shutdown began, Major League Baseball has floated a number of scenarios where teams can return to action. First was the abandoned Arizona plan. Then there was the Grapefruit/Cactus League plan where teams played in their Spring Training sites. Now, we are at the three state plan. Under that plan, we will have a one year radical realignment plan, which is as follows:

There is some excitement over this plan for a myriad of reasons. One reason is there is some level of excitement in seeing local rivalries, which really only exist for one Interleague Series per year, play out over the course of a season. The larger reason for the excitement is there is a plan being formulated where we may actually get baseball.

When you peel back the excitement, this plan, as it pertains to baseball, stinks.

Let’s start with what should be obvious but isn’t in any of the reporting and analysis thus far. Baseball can set-up the leagues however they want to see fit. They can set it up geographically, alphabetically, or completely random.  The overriding point is that MLB can establish their alignment in any way they want.

The question is why this three division plan? Well, in Bob Nightengale’s article for USA Today, it is a plan which allows teams to stay at home, restrict travel, and not require players to be in isolation. It is also partially predicated upon “pending approval of medical experts and providing that COVID-19 testing is available to the public.”

If you read this another way, MLB is saying baseball cannot resume until there is widely available testing and players are no longer needed to be in isolation. At this point, the question needs to be asked why exactly does there need to be a radical alignment to accompany this?

Think about it for a second, if a team needs to travel, why does it matter where they travel? Is there any science behind it being safer to go to JFK or Laguardia for a short flight to Florida than there is in a flight to Los Angeles? Is there any science behind it being safer to take an Amtrack ride to Baltimore than it is a flight to Milwaukee?

Also, is there any more harm in the Mets using a hotel in Arizona than there is the Mariners? Keep in mind, if even one player gets COVID19 after baseball returns, it is very likely the sport will have to shut down very similar to what the NBA had to do when Rudy Gobert tested positive. If that is a Mets player testing positive in New York, Miami, or San Francisco, does it really matter?

Really, when you break this down, this isn’t about safety and fitting in as many games as possible. Remember, teams routinely will play a day game on the East Coast and fly out to the West Coast for a game the next evening. This is 2020 and not 1958. On that note, they were able to figure out the travel in 1958.

Ultimately, we can make some arguments here and there that the three division plan may be a little safer, and it might permit them to play more games, when you focus on it, those are not the driving forces for this three division plan. This begs the question – what is?

Like almost everything in life and sports, the answer is money. Traveling locally is far more cheaper than cross country flights.

We see money being a significant issue for Major League teams right now when it comes to returning to play. When speaking with Governor Cuomo, Jeff Wilpon made it a point to say players are going to have to cut their salaries if they play games without fans. Nightengale’s article noted owners will refuse to return to baseball unless players cut their salaries. We also have seen the very disparate refund policies from money teams, including the Mets who buried the refund language in their release and came just short of guaranteeing a refund.

It should also be noted this plan helps Commissioner Rob Manfred in his quest to implement a Universal DH. This should not be a surprise as Manfred is using the pandemic to push his agenda.

Overall, this three division plan is not about getting back to baseball as soon as possible. That’s simply not true, especially when the plan is predicated on testing measures being in place that will not be in place for a while. No, this is about the owners saving money – money from player salaries and money from the cost of travel.