Rockies’ taxi squad may end up here anyway
Up to 30 players would train at Isotopes Park
No professional baseball games are scheduled at Isotopes Park this summer, but professional baseball players could still end up training in Albuquerque.
Isotopes general manager John Traub confirmed Wednesday that the Colorado Rockies are considering using the city’s Triple-A facility as an official training site for 30 players on their satellite roster. Details remain to be determined, Traub said.
“We had discussions with the Rockies about this a few weeks ago,” Traub said. “It would be an option for them to house players in a geographically suitable location with great facilities. If all the particulars can be worked out, our primary obligation is to baseball. It certainly could happen.”
After months of uncertainty, Major League Baseball on Tuesday announced plans to begin a 60-game regular season on the weekend of July 23-24. Teams will be allowed to have 60 players on their
rosters with 30 expected to be active when the season begins. Remaining players will be on a taxi squad or satellite roster, but no minor league games are planned.
“If players do come here they wouldn’t be the Isotopes,” Traub said. “They’d be the
Rockies, just not active Rockies.”
MLB has not yet released its 2020 schedule, but teams are expected to play only division foes and geographically equivalent interleague opponents (AL West versus NL West, for example). Minimizing travel is a priority, which is likely to play a role in training-site locations, Traub said.
With no minor league season scheduled, the Isotopes recently furloughed most of their 29-member full-time staff. Traub said he did not know if any additional staff would be needed to operate Isotopes Park as a training facility or if the Rockies would provide staff of their own.