PHOENIX — People are dying across the world.

There remains no vaccine for COVID-19.

And Major League Baseball is worried about starting a season as soon as possible, bringing in about about 3,000 players and team officials from across the nation, including dozens of countries, magically guarantee that everyone is insulated and coronavirus-free, and act like this is for the good of the country.

Please.

MLB and its players would love to have a season starting this summer. They even discussed a three-month tournament beginning in September. Anything to play some baseball before spring training commences next February. But it’s time for a reality check.

Do you really think MLB and the players' association are about to embark on a season in which they get tested for COVID-19 whenever needed, including a result within hours, while health care workers and first responders can’t even qualify for a test? Sure, everyone would love to get paid, but no one in their right mind is that heartless.

MLB discussed the idea of having 30 teams and personnel assemble in Phoenix in May, insulate themselves from the rest of the world, sequestered in separate hotels, and play games in empty stadiums – Chase Field, 10 spring training sites and three collegiate fields.

Everyone would be under quarantine, allowing travel only between ballparks and hotels, requiring players and personnel to sit in the stands at least six feet from one another, with no family members permitted to even visit them while away, let alone watch them play games.

It would be a ghastly sci-fi movie coming to life, with players impersonating robots, with all of the personality and emotion sucked out of their bodies. The players' association listened to MLB officials explain the concept that’s been batted around for a week on a conference call Monday. They hung up, promised to get feedback, engage again in conversations, and were left wondering how in the world it could possibly work.

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The first deal-breaker, before the two sides even start talking about logistical concerns that would fill the Grand Canyon, is money. The players, by agreeing to sacrifice their health and willingness to be away from their families for at least four months, would want to be paid their full salary, at least a pro-rated share of their remaining salary for the games missed.

Sorry -- two MLB owners told USA TODAY Sports they would never approve any deal if there are no fans without requiring players to take a significant pay cut – perhaps as much as 40%. They spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the talks. With no fans in the stands, no parking revenue and no concessions, that wipes out about $4 billion of the $10.7 billion in revenue MLB generated last year.

Owners also stress their local TV money will be slashed by playing in Phoenix. You can’t have every team playing in prime time. And who wants to stay up until 1 a.m. every night if you’re a fan of an East Coast team, unless you get sadistic pleasure watching your favorite players endure 110-degree heat in the Phoenix summer months?

You’re also talking about the loss of corporate sponsorships, and stadium naming rights considering no games are being played at their ballparks.

MLB knows it has plenty of friends in powerful places. They are in daily contact with federal agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Department of Health and Human Services, who are supportive in efforts to bring sports back.

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Certainly, it would be a great boost to the Phoenix economy when the oppressive summer heat suffocates businesses. Yet, local government officials are wary about untested players suddenly arriving, with the pandemic yet to reach its apex in Phoenix. And even if the government allows MLB the privilege of having unlimited tests, how do you explain that to locals who lack the resources to get tested?

Baseball is trying everything to keep its hopes of a 2020 season alive, discussing a myriad of ideas, but the risk of playing anytime soon should dwarf the idea that entertainment in our lives will make this deadly virus any less tolerable.

“The health and safety of our employees, players, fans and the public at large are paramount,’’ MLB said in a statement Tuesday, “and we are not ready at this time to endorse any particular format for staging games in light of the rapidly changing public health situation caused by the coronavirus.”

You really want a pennant race at great risk to others? Go ahead, but you better brace yourself for the consequences, which could damage the sport and haunt its leaders forever.

Follow Nightengale on Twitter: @Bnightengale