Though things probably won’t get nearly as contentious as last year, when the league was forced to implement the rules for the season after players and owners failed to reach an agreement, the two sides are still at odds over a variety of matters. The most pressing of those is the start of spring training and the length of the season, since report dates are coming up in less than a month.
The Cactus League sent a letter to the commissioner Monday urging him to push back the start of spring training due to the exceedingly high COVID-19 numbers in Maricopa County, home to 10 MLB facilities.