Major League Baseball is hoping to begin its coronavirus-delayed 2020 season sometime in July.

An August return may be more realistic but league officials privately think that moving back to August from July would be simpler than trying to move an August schedule up to July.

A tentative schedule would  be spring training in June and starting games in July.

The league is concerned that:

• They don’t want to step on the toes of state, local and federal officials by jumping the gun on a return to normal activity.
• By waiting, MLB can proceed with better information.
• Any start would have to be coordinated with the player union to ensure player safety.

The first games might be played in spring training areas like Florida, Arizona or Texas. By playing games within a certain state, it would limit air travel.  And that could result in mixing of division alignment to favor geography.

But it looks like the earliest games will not have spectators and will rely on TV and radio audiences. When it is determined fans could return to the stadiums, it will probably mandate social distancing and maybe wearing masks.

Keeping fans from sitting together could be a logistical problem.