Members of the League of Cacti wrote a letter to the MLB and Commissioner Rob Manfred yesterday requesting the postponement of spring training due to the increased number of coronavirus cases in Maricopa County. The MLBPA responded quickly, reinforcing its position that it has no plans to delay the season. MLB cannot delay the start of spring training without MLBPA approval.
After news of the letter was released yesterday, Joel Sherman of the New York Post wrote: “Both the MLB and the players’ association made bland statements. The key behind the scenes is to know that the union sees the officers of the League of Cacti as MLB tools. “
Today, Alex Coffey of Athletic reports that an MLB representative “encouraged members of the Cactus League to write a letter to Commissioner Rob Manfred expressing a desire to delay the start of spring training …” Honestly, this revelation is unlikely to change much, because those involved were clearly aware of the politics at stake here, and the MLBPA seemed totally indifferent to the letter.
Meanwhile, Cactus League executive director Bridget Binsbacher denies that there was any pressure from the league to write the letter. Coffey provides a quote from a source who seems to put this public dispute in perspective: “I think two things can be true. City leaders think they are doing well in health policy. League owners and employees are using this to their advantage, perhaps without the cities having any idea about it. ”
Certainly, while it is easy to demonize the MLB for politicizing the pandemic and using public opinion to coerce the MLBPA into a weaker negotiating position so that they can achieve their financial goals, the MLBPA can be launched in an equally harsh light if we really assume a delay is the safest course of action. Negotiating in public places usually creates a particularly antagonistic view, but the reality here is that the two sides will continue to negotiate on these points until they find acceptable common ground.
In the meantime, the beat continues. The Arizona Diamondbacks released a statement detailing the progress that continues to be made in preparation for the season. From the launch: “The United States Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) joined the Cactus League, its spring training teams and facilities, and state and local partners on Tuesday for an exercise virtual table to review pre-incident preparedness measures and stadium response plans during spring training. While several of the teams and stadiums regularly review the plans and conduct exercises, for the second consecutive year, a field exercise was carried out to allow everyone to share best practices and discuss coordination if an incident affects more than one location. The exercise scenario included information and intelligence sharing between the public and private sectors and an active threat at an approximate stage. Tuesday’s exercise was conducted virtually due to the restrictions of COVID-19 and was not a response to any specific threat. “