Now pondering the Arizona/Florida plan

Earlier this week, we discussed the Arizona plan in this entry. Now there is a Arizona/Florida plan, according to a report yesterday by USA Today sports.

In spring training there is a so-called Grapefruit League and a Cactus League. This plan calls for each of the states to host the 15 teams they currently host in spring and there would, for one crazy year only, be no American or National League. No fans would be in attendance at these games.

It's another option, another possible plan to try and get baseball back.

Here is the proposed division breakdown:

GRAPEFRUIT LEAGUE

North - New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates.

South - Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Twins, Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Rays.

East - Washington Nationals, Houston Astros, New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, Miami Marlins.

CACTUS LEAGUE

Northeast - Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics.

West - Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Angels.

Northwest - Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals.

According to the story, each team would play 12 games in its division for 48 total and six against each of the other teams for another 60. That adds up to 108, which is a nice round number in the sense that it is two thirds of a full 162-game year. Would make our math simpler for prorating a few things.

This plan would also bring 26 ballparks, including three current Major League Baseball domed stadiums into play. Teams could use big league parks in Arizona, Miami and St. Petersburg. That would also allow more teams to play during the 7 p.m. local time slots, which would be good for television ratings and hopefully allow more fans to watch.

Not finalized is how the playoffs would work. Presumably, the Grapefruit League champ would meet the Cactus League champion in the World Series. That would likely be at warm-weather and/or domed site, possibly in November.

Again, a lot is not known and any plan right now could only happen under safe conditions for all involved. Can MLB pull all this off? There are plenty of doubters and this plan is not final by any means. It is just yet another option on the table.

I'm intrigued and we all want baseball back. That part would be great. But all the hurdles and logistics to pull it off could be insurmountable.

Shorebirds all-time club: What do Zach Matson, Ryan Minor, Trey Mancini, Calvin Pickering, John Maine and several others have in common? They are all members of the Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds Silver Anniversary Team.

The team was selected over the last few months, and this week, when minor league seasons were set to open, the Shorebirds rolled out the entire roster. Click here to see the full squad and how it was selected.

The Show League: MLB, the Major League Baseball Players Association and Sony Interactive Entertainment announced the creation of the MLB The Show Players League, the first competitive MLB The Show league solely featuring major league players.

The O's will be represented by outfielder Dwight Smith Jr. He and 29 other players have agreed to represent their teams and play each other in this inaugural online event to engage fans around the world and raise funds for Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada.

Each participant plays in a round-robin format (i.e., playing every team one time) throughout the month of April for a total of 29 regular season, three-inning games. Following this regular season, the top eight teams will advance to the playoffs, which will largely mirror the MLB postseason format and culminate in a World Series.

Fans can watch streams of games on a variety of digital platforms, including Twitch and YouTube. Follow @MLB, @MLB_PLAYERS, @MLBTheShow and the players' Twitter accounts for times and stream information.

Major League Baseball, the MLBPA and SIE will donate $5,000 on behalf of each participating player to a Boys & Girls Club affiliate in his team's community. The stakes for the competition are enhanced with the championship player earning an additional $25,000 donation to the Boys & Girls Club in his community.

I'm amped to rep the @orioles in the @mlbtheshow Players League Tournament! Can't wait to Share this moment with everybody! B'More i got us...Big Truss 🤞🏾 #MLBTheShowPlayersLeague #BMoreLimitless pic.twitter.com/l5jsQnQzak

-- Dwight Smith Jr. (@DSmittyJr) April 10, 2020