Leaders of all eight Cactus League cities have sent a letter to Major League Baseball 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 contamination rates in the country – we feel it is wise to delay the start of spring training to take into account the COVID-19 situation here “said the letter, first taken over by TV station KPNX in Phoenix. “This view is based on publicly available data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, which predicts a sharp drop in infections in Arizona by mid-March.”
The letter is signed by the executive director of the Cactus League, the city officials of Phoenix and Tempe, the mayors of Mesa, Scottsdale, Surprise, Glendale and Peoria, and the president of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.
The Cactus League serves as the spring training center for 15 teams – the 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 the spring practice, which now officially begins on February 27 in both Arizona and Florida, home of the Grapefruit League.