Shapiro: 4-week camp would likely be needed before start of season

Toronto Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro acknowledged Sunday that Major League Baseball teams would need another spring training to ramp up for a 2020 season currently being delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

"It's hard to imagine we could get ready (faster) than four weeks," Shapiro told reporters on a conference call, according to Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun.

The 52-year-old executive also said the idea is a part of various scenarios that are being planned, but there's no real sense of what might happen in baseball until the infection curve begins to flatten, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.

The league announced last week that the beginning of the regular season will be pushed back by at least eight weeks after the CDC recommended events with 50-plus people should be restricted.

Opening Day might take place in mid-May based on those guidelines. However, a second spring training could also push the start of the new campaign to mid-June.