Gov. Newsom lays out four-stage plan to re-open the state of California

Earlier today, California governor Gavin Newsom tweeted out a thread of information detailing how the state could re-open and what would need to happen in order for things to return to normal.

Stage 1 of the four-stage process is simply called “Safety and Preparedness.” It’s the stage we are currently in that is allowing essential workers to be as safe as possible and the main one involved in flattening the curve.

Stage 2 is called “Lower Risk Workplaces.” This stage allows for the gradual re-opening of certain businesses while staying in line with special guidelines and regulations. These can include office spaces, manufacturing plants, and retail.

The next two, the ones that outline how sports are affected, are below.

Unsurprisingly, the goal for sports is to have the ability to return sooner rather than later by playing without fans. When it comes to the sport of baseball, I believe it will be one of, if not, the first sport to come back.

Speaking of baseball coming back, Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports reported a potential plan being discussed where MLB could start the season with three 10-team divisions and have the playoffs be expanded for this year, alone.

The 30 teams would only play those within their own regional division, which would be separated into the West, East, and Central. There’s also a small chance that players would be able to play within their home stadiums sometime this summer.

To start things off, players could start spring training again in May, beginning with pitchers and catchers. The players would also be isolated from the population for the next three to four weeks and then get separated further into groups that have been tested positive but didn’t show symptoms, those who have been hospitalized, and those who have tested negative.

According to one of the executives involved in the decision, “This is going to be a season like we’ve never seen.”