Leaders from all eight Cactus League cities sent a letter to the Major Baseball League saying it would be “wise” to delay the start of spring training due to the high rate of COVID-19 infections in Maricopa County, Arizona.
“In view of the current state of the pandemic in Maricopa County – with one of the highest infection rates in the country – we believe it is wise to delay the start of spring training to allow the situation of COVID-19 here,” says the letter, first acquired by the KPNX TV station in Phoenix. “This position is based on public data from the University of Washington Institute of Health Metrics and Assessment, which projects a sharp decline in infections in Arizona through mid-March.”
The letter was signed by the executive director of the Cactus League, the city administrators of Phoenix and Tempe, the mayors of Mesa, Scottsdale, Surprise, Glendale and Peoria and the president of the Salt River Indian community Pima-Maricopa
The Cactus League serves as a spring training home for 15 teams – Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics , San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers.
Major League Baseball has full authority over the start of spring training, which is now scheduled to officially begin on February 27 in Arizona and Florida, home of the Grapefruit League.