#Hal Steinbrenner expects to see fans at Yankee Stadium this season

That is Hal Steinbrenner’s expectation for the upcoming 60-game Yankees schedule, if COVID-19 doesn’t shut MLB down.

“I do expect to see fans in our Stadium at some point to some degree, and that’s going to be a great day,’’ Steinbrenner told YES Network on Thursday.

According to Steinbrenner, talks with MLB and Gov. Andrew Cuomo about having fans in the seats have been held.

“Those conversations have already happened. We’ve also had a lot of conversations with the governor’s office and he’s been great. He’s been a big advocate to getting sports back on the field and then eventually, when things are safe, to get fans back in the Stadium,’’ Steinbrenner said. “So, between the two of them, we’ve had multiple conversations over the course [of], really, the last month.”

With social-distancing guidelines and masks being worn, the Stadium won’t be packed when fans are allowed inside.

“We’ve done a lot of work. Ticketmaster has been great helping us out, really putting a diagram together which would keep everybody at least 6 feet apart, and it would be limited,’’ Steinbrenner said. “I’m sure it’ll be in the 20-30 percent [capacity] range, hopefully, at first. It’s definitely possible in the Stadium to keep people at a safe distance, wearing masks at those capacities.”

A spike in positive COVID-19 tests in Florida spoiled Steinbrenner’s plans to hold spring training 2.0 in Tampa, where the club would have had access to George M. Steinbrenner Field’s multiple diamonds and the nearby minor league complex. There is a lot less room at the Stadium, where spring training 2.0 will be held starting Saturday.

“Well, it was difficult. We had spent weeks and weeks and weeks really perfecting, you know, sanitization techniques and products and [we] got a lot of outside advice and we had both facilities down there ready to go, safe as any facilities anywhere in the country. But, as you said, things did heat up, so, you know, we made the decision,’’ Steinbrenner said. “Things were calming down up here [in New York], to move back, even though the facilities were probably better for that amount of people down in Tampa.”

According to Steinbrenner, safety during the three-week spring training 2.0 is paramount.

“We are going to make sure that everybody safe distances and we’re just going to have to get through these three weeks, and then we will be utilizing [Triple-A] Scranton in all likelihood for the other half of the team, so to speak,’’ Steinbrenner said of the back end of the 58-man roster. “But we’ll get through it. We’ll make sure that everybody is safe, everybody is keeping their distances and following the protocols. We’ll make it happen.”

Ever since the coronavirus made spring training disappear on March 12, the most-asked question in the Yankees’ universe was about the health of Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks and James Paxton. Now the possibility of that quartet being ready for the July 23 opener has Steinbrenner excited.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing the guys that were injured. Most of them have been in Tampa obviously, so I have spent a lot of time with them and they have been progressing well, and hopefully we get them all back for Opening Day,’’ Steinbrenner said. “But it’s going to be great to see 60 guys all in the same place, including, you know, our top prospects and others.”