Reading the tea leaves about various MLB season proposals

It's still impossible to say with any semblance of certainty when, where or how the 2020 Major League Baseball season will begin. But it doesn't take a lot of reading between the lines in recent days to recognize the powers that be in this sport strongly believe there will be a 2020 baseball season.

The length, format and other particulars of a potential season remain very much uncertain. But as various proposals get tossed around, it does seem like everyone involved fully expects something to get underway sometime this summer.

"I'm optimistic, as is the commissioner, that we'll have baseball in 2020," Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said last week. "I'm upbeat about that. I think the most important thing is to do it in the right way and in the safest manner that we can. But I believe that we will have baseball."

What's the right way and the safest manner to do it? That's what folks in the commissioner's office, the 30 franchises' front offices, the players trying to stay in shape at home, and the government and public health officials whose decisions will have the biggest impact on what happens next all are trying to figure out right now.

There does appear to be some consensus around the sport that a decision is coming sooner rather than later. With the calendar about to shift and various states announcing tentative plans to gradually lift restrictions, MLB recognizes the time is coming to settle on a definitive plan.

If the league can present the MLB Players Association with a concrete proposal before the end of May, a deal could be struck soon after that. Teams could then start gathering (location still TBD) for an abbreviated spring training lasting two to three weeks. And an opening day on or around July 1 could be set.

Where would this all take place? We've now seen four potential plans get leaked through various media outlets, each taking matters a step farther than the previous one:

* The Arizona Plan, which would have all 30 clubs attempt to keep themselves in a "bubble" that included only the 12 MLB, spring training and Division I college ballparks spread around the Phoenix area, plus however many hotels are needed to house all the participants.

* The Arizona/Florida Plan, which would have teams report to their usual spring training facilities and compete in reorganized divisions featuring the other teams that train nearby. Instead of a National League and an American League, there would be a Grapefruit League and a Cactus League, the winners of which could face each other in a neutral-site World Series.

* The Arizona, Florida and Texas Plan, which would add the Dallas area to the mix and divide the entire sport into three 10-team clusters that mostly face each other to minimize travel.

* The Regional Plan, which would create three 10-team divisions based on geography. All the East teams would play each other (in their regular home ballparks), same as the Central and the West. Travel would be minimized, and then some number of top teams would be chosen to advance to a reconfigured November postseason tournament at neutral, warm-weather locations.

None of those plans appear to include fans, at least not at the outset. It's entirely possible, though, the final solution is to open the season with one plan and - if conditions around the country improve and more restrictions are lifted - progress to a more spread-out plan along the way. Maybe - maybe - the season could even wrap up in most, if not all, of MLB's regular 30 ballparks, with some fans in attendance.

As always, there's an overflowing list of concerns, requirements and logistical challenges that need to be resolved before any ballgame can actually take place anywhere.

But after spending the last seven weeks cooped up and trying not to think about when, how or if baseball would be played again, there's reason to believe the folks who will make this decision are starting to realize the time is coming to make a decision. Whatever that decision is.