Chicago Cubs: Could a London series be in the clubs future?

Chicago Cubs: Logistically speaking

The Red Sox and Yankees are slated to receive a full two days off after their arrival to London, providing much-needed rest. An advantage for both teams is they both will play home games before leaving on a jet plane.

England is closer for most teams than say, Japan. Since Major League Baseball has been traveling to Japan every few years, it would, in theory, become much easier to make London a realistic possibility into the future.

In a piece from Mark Gonzalez of the Chicago Tribune, Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant expressed his keen interest on the idea:

"“It would be awesome, a cool trip to go over there. I hope it’s us.”"

Bryant brought forward the idea of centering a series around the All-Star break to give the team more time to enjoy the worldly experience. It makes sense to schedule a series with extra time off as many of the players to relish at this opportunity.

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For the Mariners and Athletics, traveling to Japan will not provide nearly enough downtime. Tokyo is a 16 hour time difference from the West coast of the United States. The teams will have barely more than a day to acclimate before exhibition games, and then face each other in the opening series.

For the Cubs, a flight to London from Chicago is just under eight hours. The time difference is a mere five hours. It would mean a more relaxed transition without a terrible amount of jet lag. In the same Chicago Tribune piece from Gonzalez, current catching coach Mike Borzello also gave his thoughts about the Yankees trip to Japan in 2004, as a member of the team:

"“It’s a difficult trip, just for the jet lag. It felt like everyone was off early when we returned.”"

The possibility exists where a trip like this could throw everything off, as it did for the Yankees upon their return in 2004. Nevertheless, implementing a schedule change with more off-days in between could help mitigate some logistical challenges.