Tempe Diablo Stadium SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Officials with Major League Baseball say a week after pushing back the start of the exhibition season, spring training games in both the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues will not be played until at least March 8.The decision was made amid the ongoing MLB lockout.
Here's what you should know about the situation, as it stands now.With the Cactus League, spring training was supposed to start on Feb.
26. The Grapefruit League was also supposed to start on the same date, according to their website., Major League Baseball plunged into its first work stoppage in a quarter-century when the sport’s collective bargaining agreement expired, and owners immediately locked out players in a move that threatens spring training and opening day.Teams decided to force the long-anticipated confrontation during an offseason rather than risk players walking out during the summer, as they did in 1994.
Players and owners had successfully reached four consecutive agreements without a work stoppage, but they have been accelerating toward a clash for more than two years."We believe that an offseason lockout is the best mechanism to protect the 2022 season," baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred wrote in a letter to fans. "We hope that the lockout will jumpstart the negotiations and get us to an agreement that will allow the season to start on time.