MLB’s plan to have the AAA season start on time has been changed, per Jeff Passan at ESPN. Passan says that the AAA season will be delayed by “at least a month,” which puts the AAA season on track to start around the same time as the seasons for AA, high-A and low-A leagues start.
The delay in starting the AAA season is a result of MLB deciding to implement Alternate Training Sites, a measure that was used last season to help deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. The Alternate Training Sites allowed teams to keep a significant number of players working out together — but isolated from the regular major league roster — in order to provide replacements to be readily available, if needed.