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Because of pressures to mitigate the spread and impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Major League Baseball will be suspending Spring Training and will be delaying Opening Day, according to a report from ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
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
Earlier this afternoon, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman was the first to report that Grapefruit League action was going to be suspended.
Hearing from folks in Grapefruit League that spring training is expected to be suspended here.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 12, 2020
The Blue Jays’ split squad games today will continue to be played, but this may be the final bit of live baseball action we will see for a while. Baseball’s decision came after similar decisions to suspend live games from the National Basketball Association and Major League Soccer.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that an official announcement from the Commissioner’s Office is forthcoming.
Announcement expected shortly that MLB will be suspending operations. More details to come.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 12, 2020
UPDATE:
It’s official.
Statement from Major League Baseball: pic.twitter.com/0bWS5VTRPu
— MLB (@MLB) March 12, 2020