D-backs’ Derrick Hall: Resuming MLB season will require time

Arizona Diamondbacks president and CEO Derrick Hall said Thursday it “doesn’t make any sense” to be too quick to resume the MLB season as it’s currently on hold because of the coronavirus.

“We can come up with logistics for any plan but it’s going to take a little time,” Hall told Arizona Sports’ Doug & Wolf. “And I also believe [MLB] made a very true and timely statement of, ‘Hey, we’re considering multiple scenarios here. We can’t just focus on the one.’ And they’re not.”

Indeed, Major League Baseball pumped the brakes on the reported possibility to isolate in Arizona to resume the season at the Cactus League ballparks. It said it hasn’t decided definitively on any plan, although it has discussed ideas for how to get back in business.

The reported plan was met with mixed reaction from the public, including criticism from those who saw it as either reckless because of the risk of spreading the virus or excessively challenging from a logistical standpoint.

“I’m biased. I think Arizona’s a great place,” Hall said. “I know we could pull it off if we needed to. There’s a lot of logistical issues, though … There’s a lot of people out there that maybe aren’t ready. There’s a lot of people out there that still have questions. There’s a lot of people out there that are still scared. We all should be. We don’t know. So it’s going to take time and it’s going to have to have buy-in from everybody, whichever plan it is.

“There’s a lot to take into account here. There’s politics, there’s public opinion, there’s logistics. It’s a very difficult decision, not only for us but for all the leagues. And it’s just a different world right now.”

Hall’s comments mirrored those of shortstop Nick Ahmed, who told Bickley & Marotta on Wednesday that the idea to put all of baseball’s teams in Arizona was still “so far off.” He also said he believed 60 games was a target minimum number to get in this season, although he’d be willing to play any amount.

“I don’t know if there’s a minimum or maximum at this point,” Hall said. “We’ve said all along we’d like to play the entire season. That seems very challenging now. We just want to play as many games as we can in a very healthy and safe environment.”

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