The Grapefruit League has a major distinction from its Cactus League counterpart. While both leagues are comprised of 15 Major League teams for Spring Training, the number of unique opponents each team faces is unequal.
In Arizona, the Cactus League is comprised of 10 stadiums; five of those stadiums are home to two separate teams. The other five host a single ball club. All of these stadiums are roughly within an hour of each other, with most being much closer.
Florida has its setup different for the Grapefruit League. Teams are located mainly along the east coast and gulf coast with a few in the middle of the state. This creates shorter travel times to some ballparks and longer drives to others. By comparison to the Cactus League, the Grapefruit has its shortest distance between parks at less than 10 miles; the longest distance between parks is over 200 miles or almost four hours.
All in all, it doesn’t really matter which teams play each other in Spring Training. Every game is an exhibition game, and the objective is more about players either getting themselves ready for the regular season or making the Opening Day roster. Fans may be craving to see interdivision rivals, but there isn’t much beef going on in March.
Because of the widespread stadiums in Florida, many of the Grapefruit League teams play only a handful of the other teams. They may play the same few teams over and over, but the travel times are reduced and players spend less time on the bus between games.
I looked at the schedules for four of the corner teams on the Grapefruit League map. The Toronto Blue Jays play in Dunedin. Their schedule is absent of the Mets, Nationals, Astros, and Marlins. Toronto also does not play the Cardinals in Florida, but they do play them in Montreal for a final exhibition series.
The Atlanta Braves play at the Wide World of Sports at Disney in Orlando. Their opponents do not include the Red Sox, Twins, Rays, and Orioles.
World Series MVP George Springer and the Houston Astros have a newly built shared complex with the Washington Nationals. Many of the northern gulf coast teams do not play the Astros at all. They include the Blue Jays, Phillies, Tigers, Pirates, and Orioles.
The southwestern most team, the Minnesota Twins have a void in their schedule of the Braves, Tigers, Mets, Marlins, and Nationals. However, they do play Washington in Washington DC in a final exhibition game.
There isn’t much of a reason to make players drive three and four hours for the sake of playing a particular opponent in Spring Training. If that were the case, teams simply wouldn’t subject their starters to long bus rides. There is plenty of bus time in the minor league schedule anyways.
Grapefruit League changes
The Grapefruit League needs to contract its Spring Training facilities even further. The Nationals and Astros now have a shared facility (Ballpark of the Palm Beaches) after having separate venues in Viera and Kissimmee respectively. The Cardinals and Marlins have a shared complex at Roger Dean Stadium.
Atlanta is planning to move to Sarasota soon for Spring Training. This would leave outliers in the Tigers (Lakeland), Red Sox and Twins (Fort Meyers), and the Mets (Port St. Lucie). There could essentially be a Grapefruit League north and south, but teams would have to move and probably build shared ballparks.
While the Cactus League teams might get to play a few more teams than those in the Grapefruit League, there isn’t much of an advantage schedule wise in either league. Players may get a few at-bats off of a division rival pitcher, but they might face each other only two or three times in the regular season anyways. Spring Training is more about getting timing and rhythm and fundamentals in check rather than preparing for a certain opponents’ arsenal.
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