Cactus League Requests MLB Delay Start of Spring Training due to COVID-19
In a letter sent to Major League Baseball, leaders of the eight Cactus League cities asked the league to delay the start of Spring Training 2021.
BREAKING Arizona’s Cactus League tells @MLB it wants to delay start of spring training because of Maricopa County’s high COVID infection rate. #12News pic.twitter.com/H61DbDurVY
— Brahm Resnik (@brahmresnik) January 25, 2021
Despite the request, the Cactus League has no authority to delay Spring Training itself. So, ultimately the decision falls on Rob Manfred and MLB.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan raised an interesting point. The Mayor of Glendale signed the letter as well, but Glendale is where the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes are currently playing games with fans in attendance. So, that’s curious.
There are 15 teams in the Cactus League: the Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers.
Spring Training is scheduled to begin on Feb. 27 in both Arizona and Florida.
As of publication, no word from MLB.
