Possible delay in spring training.
COVID-19 dangers could impact the A’s and Giants
With pitchers and catchers due to report to Arizona in about three weeks, the executive director of the Cactus League and other local officials are urging Major League Baseball to delay the start of spring training.
Arizona-based leaders requested the delay in a letter Friday to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, citing the high coronavirus infection rate in Maricopa County, where the Giants and the A’s and 13 other MLB teams train.
More than 440,000 people in Maricopa County have tested positive for COVID-19 and more than 6,800 people have died since the beginning of the pandemic.
“If it’s possible to delay spring training by a little bit and allow the vaccine to do its work so we can see some mitigation of the virus, that would be our preference,” Mesa Mayor John Giles said Monday by phone. “We love spring training, but it doesn’t trump the need for strict policies to protect public health.”
The A’s train in Mesa. The Giants train in Scottsdale. Both teams have been planning to begin workouts the third week in February.
The San Jose Sharks, subject to the Nov. 28 ban on sports in Santa Clara County, have been calling Maricopa County home since late December. The 49ers spent the last
five weeks of their season there as well.
In the letter to Manfred, published Monday by 12 News in Phoenix, the group led by Cactus League executive director Bridget Binsbacher cited an alarming projection from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. The projection estimates 9,712 daily COVID-19 infections in Arizona on February 15 with the number falling to 3,072 on March 15.
Spring training is known as “Christmas in March” in Maricopa County because of the economic impact produced by 1.5 to 2 million visitors. While officials are bracing for the inevitable financial hit, they say a one-month delay could benefit the county in two ways.
“Our motivation behind suggesting a delay primarily has to do with
health and the spread of the vaccine,” Giles said. “And if we take a month to get a little bit ahead of the virus, that might allow us to have some fans in the stands.”
MLB released a statement Monday in response to the letter, saying the league will continue to monitor the COVID-19 environment.
“As we have previously stated publicly, we will continue to consult with public health authorities, medical experts and the Players Association whether any schedule modifications to the announced start of spring training and the championship season should be made in light of the current COVID-19 environment to ensure the safety of the players, coaches, umpires, MLB employees and other gameday personnel in a sport that plays every day,” the league said.
Despite health and safety concerns,
the letter indicates a Cactus League task force is determining feasible ways for teams to sell tickets to spring training games. The Arizona Coyotes of the NHL are currently hosting fans for games at a reduced capacity indoors at their arena in Glendale while the Arizona Cardinals also hosted a limited number of fans at their domed stadium during the NFL season.
The Cactus League itself cannot impose restrictions on Major League Baseball that would prevent teams from holding spring training in Arizona during February, but local officials can conceivably adopt a health order similar to Santa Clara County that prevents teams from competing locally.