SI's Robin Lundberg and Max Goodman discuss the possibility of realigned divisions in a coronavirus contingency plan discussed by MLB.
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00:00 Major League Baseball is reportedly considering a plan that would allow the season to start in June with realigned divisions.
00:07 For more, I'm joined by Max Goodman of Inside the Pinstripes.
00:10 Max, what have you heard around the Yankees about this plan and whether it's feasible?
00:15 Yeah, so this is a report that came out this week, originally from USA Today.
00:19 And the reason why I love this one the most of all of the different proposals that we've seen so far, and there have been a few,
00:26 this one is the closest to reality, which says a lot considering the situation we're in.
00:31 And I'll preface this that I'm cautiously optimistic that this could even work,
00:35 because if the novel coronavirus happens to get worse, then this might not even be feasible.
00:40 But I digress. There is going to be three 10-team divisions, so we're going to split this regionally.
00:46 The AL and NL West, AL/NL Central, AL/NL East, all three of those are going to be in divisions,
00:52 and they'll play within those divisions for around a hundred-game season.
00:57 And in this proposal, we're potentially looking at a season that's going to start before July 4th.
01:02 Again, take that with a grain of salt. We'll see if this ends up working.
01:05 But another reason that this is a great proposal is you think of the Arizona plan and all teams going into one hub.
01:13 That's not going to be ideal for certain players that want to be with their families.
01:17 Garrett Cole, for example, his first child is due in June.
01:21 Is he going to be in quarantine and away from his wife and family when his son is delivered in June?
01:26 Probably not. So this allows teams and their players to be at home in their home bases
01:31 because these games are going to take place wherever these teams are based across the country.
01:35 So the Yankees are going to be in New York City.
01:38 And in the same division with the Mets, how strange would that be?
01:43 Yeah, the more I think about this, and I've had a chance to sleep on it since the idea came out,
01:48 when was the last time the Yankees and Mets played a meaningful game?
01:52 Is it 2000 in the World Series, the Subway Series, World Series, when they played against each other?
01:57 I think that this idea, not only for the Yankees and Mets, but I'll talk specifically about them,
02:02 has a chance to reinvigorate and reignite these rivalries that are geographic within one city.
02:09 The Dodgers and Angels will be in the same division, the White Sox and Cubs.
02:14 The Yankees and Mets are going to have a chance to play against each other in meaningful games to win in a division.
02:21 Obviously, this year is unprecedented and will go down in history with an asterisk in itself,
02:25 with everything that's happening.
02:27 But imagine down the stretch in a shortened season when all of these games matter paramount,
02:32 Aaron Judge taking on Jacob deGrom or Garrett Cole pitching to Pete Alonso,
02:37 down the stretch in a game that could decide a playoff spot.
02:41 I love this idea in that sense.
02:44 We also have to think about potentially Alex Rodriguez and J-Lo buying the Mets with the Yankees being close by.
02:49 There are so many different storylines.
02:51 I'm really a big fan of this idea when you just think about the Yankees versus the Mets geographically.
02:56 It would be good for New York Sports Talk Radio, that's for sure.
03:01 Max, I appreciate your time as always.
03:03 Thanks, Robin.
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