Back when baseball first revealed that the Triple-A season would be pushed back to May, and there would be alternate sites once again for the month of April, there were rumors that teams might try to put together “Triple-A” games on their own among alt site teams that were in close proximity. I have not seen any official word from MLB or from the Chicago Cubs on this point, but a White Sox report suggests it’s happening.
Here’s Scott Merkin, who covers the White Sox:
The alternate training site for the White Sox will be in Schaumburg. There's a 13-game schedule set up for games against the Cubs and Brewers alternate site squads.
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) March 26, 2021
One of those alternate site games against the Cubs will take place at Guaranteed Rate Field, when the White Sox are out of town.
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) March 26, 2021
To be sure, that’s not a Cubs schedule there, but if the White Sox are scheduling 13 games against the Cubs and Brewers, you already know that the Cubs are playing a solid chunk of games right there. And they are probably also playing the Brewers for a chunk, though the Cubs at South Bend would be a bit further from Appleton, Wisconsin (where the Brewers’ alt site is) than Chicago. We’ll see.
So, then, it’s not quite Triple-A. It’s also probably not quite going to be a game-every-day situation. But at least it’s some regular competition against players and pitchers from outside your organization – like an extended Spring Training. Much better than last year from a competitiveness standpoint. And then on days without an external game, you can assume there will be intrasquad games.
More details when they are made official by the Cubs. You’ll note that the emergence of an actual schedule of some games at the alt site would probably be at least a small factor in decisions about a guy like Nico Hoerner, who needs game action to keep developing.