Major League Baseball Suspends Operations Indefinitely, Spring Training Canceled Amid Coronavirus Concerns

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Major League Baseball has suspended operations amid coronavirus concerns, the league announced Thursday. The move echoes the NBA, NHL, and MLS, all of which have suspended their season in the last 24 hours.

The decision comes in the middle of MLB’s month-long spring training in Florida. On Thursday afternoon, five games were in-play when the decision was made around 1:15 p.m. est. — all in the first inning.

According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the decision will affect the start of the regular season, which was slated to begin March 26 where all 30 teams were expected to play. Passan reported that the majority of players wanted games to stop after the NBA announced that its season would be suspended Wednesday night.

“It’s gotta happen,” All-Star pitcher David Price said. “This is so much bigger than sports. I’ve got two kids.”

Across other leagues, almost all of college basketball’s conference tournaments were canceled Thursday morning, and a decision to cancel the NCAA Tournament is still up in the air. The NFL also said it has no plans to “move the start of the league year,” according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, which will begin Sept. 10.

MLB released a statement two hours after the move.

“MLB and the Clubs have been preparing for a variety of contingency plans regarding the 2020 regular season schedule,” the statement read. “Nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of our players, employees, and fans. MLB will continue to undertake the precautions and best practices recommended by public health experts.”