HOUSTON – Major League Baseball announced Thursday afternoon that the rest of spring training has been canceled and Opening Day will be delayed by at least two weeks as a measure to limit the spread of coronavirus.
“Following a call with the 30 Clubs, and after consultation with the Major League Baseball Players Association, Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr. today announced that MLB has decided to suspend Spring Training games and to delay the start of the 2020 regular season by at least two weeks due to the national emergency created by the coronavirus pandemic,” officials wrote in a statement.
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Officials also say the 2020 World Baseball Classic Qualifier games in Tuscon, Arizona have be3en postponed indefinitely.
See the full statement that MLB tweeted below:
Statement from Major League Baseball: pic.twitter.com/0bWS5VTRPu
— MLB (@MLB) March 12, 2020
Major League Baseball will suspend all operations indefinitely due to the rapid spread of coronavirus, according to Sports Illustrated.
MLB Insider and ESPN writer Jeff Passan, reported the news on Thursday afternoon.
After a conference call among owners this afternoon, Major League Baseball is expected to suspend spring training. The league likely will delay the beginning of the regular season as well. At this point, it's a formality that ownership-level sources expect to happen.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 12, 2020
Passan attributed Dodgers pitcher David Price, who told him, “It’s gotta happen. This is so much bigger than sports. I’ve got two kids.”
For anyone questioning MLB's potentially suspending spring training, I'll refer to David Price as he walked into the Dodgers' facility about an hour ago: "It's gotta happen. This is so much bigger than sports. I've got two kids."
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 12, 2020
That feeling is shared by many, many in the game.
Major League Baseball will suspend all operations and likely delay the start of the 2020 season due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.
Passan reports that MLB is expected to suspend spring training after a conference call with owners on Thursday afternoon.
The NBA suspended its season this week “until further notice" after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for the coronavirus, a move that came only hours after the majority of the league’s owners were leaning toward playing games without fans in arenas. On Thursday, a second Jazz player tested positive.