MLB is in the formative stages of a plan to send two teams for spring training at some point and have them train and play at an Italian site.
We're not sure exactly what teams would be thrilled with this, but MLB is exploring a plan to have two teams spending a week training in Italy either next spring or beyond, with the squads playing several exhibitions.
MLB in the form of World Baseball Classic director James Pearce, MLB London's Clive Russell from MLB London and Dan Bonanno, MLB's representative in Italy, toured several potential training sites in Sicily, the Rome area and Parma.
The grand plan, say officials, is to send teams to different European countries during future spring-training seasons in what's essentially an international barnstorming session. While it was common for major leaguers to make a little dough in the offseason traveling overseas for exhibitions — Babe Ruth and Lefty O'Doul are still revered in Asia for their popular tours — this is the first time anyone in MLB is talking about several teams traveling as a whole overseas on a consistent basis, as opposed to limited visits like the one the Dodgers took this spring to Taiwan.
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