ESPN: The season can happen, but at what cost?

This week, ESPN dispatched a journalistic Seal Team Six to study the feasibility of an abbreviated MLB season, starting in July. It's a thumb-sucker. You'll need beer and chips... and, of course, hydroxychloroquine.  

The study offers three bottlenecks to the proposed season.

1. MLB still must figure out testing. It plans "frequent" tests - whatever that is - and to quarantine anybody who comes up positive. It will not quarantine all who came in close contact with that infected person. Thus, no matter how diligent the plan, every team will remain a ticking time bomb, vulnerable to one badly timed hotel hookup. Last year, the Yankees famously overcame an unprecedented wave of injuries - (basically, because they field a team of china dolls.) This could be like last year's wave - on steroids. And here's an ugly thought: What happens if a player dies? 

2. MLB must secure enough personal protective gear, so it cannot be accused of siphoning off supplies from the public health sector. By July, you'd think there'd be enough. But that's what we thought in April. To protect 30 teams of 40-man rosters - plus ancillary workers - that's a shit-ton of masks, sanitizer, test kits, everything. It's more daunting than it seems. MLB better get China on speed-dial.

3. MLB must face the reality that local governments will still be empowered to shut down the season, if things go south. If an outbreak occurs in Milwaukee, can the Brewers keep playing? I sure dunno. To all who fear a second viral wave in the fall, this is a real concern. Nobody wants to see everything go poof, as the pennant race reaches a finale. That's a worst-case scenario, and it's very real. 

If you're looking for a money quote:

In March, an MLB trial balloon to play inside a protective bubble at spring training sites deflated, in part because of the players' reluctance to be isolated for an extended period and limited broadcasting capacity. But the latest plan -- with players and other personnel free to circulate in their communities as state rules permit -- is a riskier, less certain strategy, according to health experts interviewed by ESPN. One sports executive gave MLB a 75% chance of completing the season.

Seventy-five percent. Beats being morbidly obese, I guess.