Just a short while ago, it was reported through ESPN and several baseball writers that Major League Baseball has decided to suspend the remainder of MLB spring training games due to concerns of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
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
After the NBA, MLS, and NHL all announced the suspension of their regular seasons, the decision MLB has made was an inevitable one. Suspending spring training is the right thing to do. Though no official announcement has been made from Rob Manfred himself, the plan is to suspend all games after Thursday (today) and Friday.
With the suspension of spring training, according to multiple sources, this is only leading toward another inevitable step. After Commissioner Rob Manfred has a conference call with all 30 owners, it is expected that he will announce later today the suspension of all baseball operations, among postponing the start to the regular season.
The expectation now is that the start of the regular season will be delayed as well. MLB will be making a statement today on this.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) March 12, 2020
Announcement expected shortly that MLB will be suspending operations. More details to come.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 12, 2020
This is obviously an unprecedented time in sports and society. It’s not known the severity of this virus and if all that is being done will help curb the spread. However, with nationwide shutdowns of large gatherings, flight suspensions from Europe, and other major sports organizations suspending their seasons, Major League Baseball has the same responsibility to act now and to follow suit in trying to help deter Covid-19 from spreading.
The bad news? There will be no baseball for the foreseeable future.
The good news? At least no more Yankees can get hurt.
More information is to come on the next steps from Major League Baseball and the start of the season and if there will even be one. Stay tuned and check back for all the updates as we follow this breaking news.
PS. Who would have ever thought the entire baseball season would be suspended before the Astros would?