Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. looks on...

Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. looks on prior to game two of the 2017 World Series between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on October 25, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Credit: Getty Images/Sean M. Haffey

The governors of Arizona and Florida, the two states that just happen to host MLB’s entire spring training operation, have rolled out the red carpet for commissioner Rob Manfred.

Oh, and don’t mind the cough. It’s nothing. Allergies.

So now what? Under the guise of welcoming all sports to their sun-baked petri dishes, Gov. Doug Ducey (Arizona) and Gov. Ron DeSantis (Florida) pointedly mentioned MLB by name (wink, wink). Sandwiched around the first pitch of restart negotiations between Manfred and union chief Tony Clark, no less.

Convenient timing. But don’t make an immediate connection between the grand reopening of these states and MLB’s plans for a spring training 2.0, which is tentatively scheduled for June. A source said Wednesday that no decisions have been made regarding where to place that three-week practice session, with home ballparks also a serious option.

A few players have publicly expressed a desire to return to Arizona and Florida, with plenty of them either living in those states or already working out there, as some team complexes have remained available for individual training programs. It’s also considered more useful from a preparation standpoint, with those facilities much better equipped for that purpose than the big-league ballparks.

But is that strategy practical from a public-health standpoint? It would seem that operating amid this COVID-19 outbreak is best done with a limited number of moving pieces. So shipping the 30 teams down to these two states, only to disperse them up north all over again, seems like increasing the coronavirus risk factor.

By using the home ballparks from the start, MLB could narrow its virus-free perimeters during spring training and then try to keep them in place for the July opening of the 82-game regular season. But some cities won’t be ready for that, either. Los Angeles County already extended its stay-at-home orders to September — bye, Dodger Stadium — and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo doesn’t sound as if he’ll have New York City functioning enough for an adequate June reopen.

That’s why it could take some frantic juggling on MLB’s part. Almost everything in Manfred’s return-to-play proposal needs to be flexible. Amid all the uncertainty, what Ducey and DeSantis had to say must sound tempting. But after Dr. Anthony Fauci warned the country Tuesday about the hazards of a rush to reopen, the governors' unabashed attempt to woo MLB felt like a creepy come-on line.

“All professional sports are welcome here for practicing and for playing," DeSantis said Wednesday at a news conference in Tallahassee. "What I would tell commissioners of leagues is, if you have a team in an area where they just won't let them operate, we'll find a place for you here in the state of Florida.

“We want to have you here. We want to have basketball practicing again. We would love to have Major League Baseball."

Manfred isn’t making any commitments yet. He delivered some health-and-safety guidelines to the Players Association during Tuesday’s presentation, according to a source, and the union seems far from signing off on anything. Also, by the time the two sides do come to an agreement — and we’re thinking when, not if — the COVID-19 landscape may have shifted again.

It’s possible that Florida and Arizona could have a resurgence based on their reopenings, which would force MLB to reconsider using any of those sites. Regardless of the governors’ confidence, no one seems to know enough about the virus yet.

In Ducey’s case, he opened pools and spas Wednesday, then took a big leap to inviting pro sports to show up as soon as Friday — minus fans, of course.

Ducey had been a big proponent of the “bubble” gambit floated last month, which involved MLB putting all 30 teams under quarantine in Arizona and using the spring training sites, along with Chase Field, to play out a truncated season in triple-digit (dry) heat. That potential plan later was extended to include Florida, a move that would have had the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues replace the American and National for this season.

Even if MLB is able to go with its current regionalized strategy of having teams play within their own divisions as well as the interleague counterparts to limit travel, Florida and Arizona could be in the mix as fallbacks. If New York remains a hot zone, you might see the Yankees play at Steinbrenner Field. 

“Our people are starved to have some of this back in their lives," DeSantis said. "It's an important part of people's lives. I think we can certainly do it in a way that's safe.”

Keeping them alive would be good. Let’s not forget that.

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