According to Baseball America, Major League Baseball sent memos to MLB executives to let them know that fall instructional programs will be allowed this season. BA notes that teams will be allowed to play against opposing clubs as well, unlike the current Alternate Training Sites now, which only allows intrasquad games.
The camps can be held at either the current training site or at the team’s Spring Training home. Teams may also choose to hold camps at both places. The new programs outlined in the memo will begin for each team no earlier than September 18th, with the actual start dates after that point being left up to each individual club. The one catch for the Alternate Training Sites is that it can’t be in use for the current 60-man player pool, meaning that 14 teams (including the Pirates unless they have a long winning streak they’ve been saving) will be able to hold instructional camps at their current locations starting on September 28th after the regular season ends.
The article linked up top from BA also outlines other areas of concern, such as the procedures teams will have to go through to ensure safety, as well as the pay for the players.
This will be something to watch with the Pirates, to see how they decide to handle the camps. I’m sure we will hear more news as the date approaches.
