Bans on large gatherings, aimed to limit the potential spread of the coronavirus, have resulted in the Twins’ first road trip of the season being up in the air. MLB has a league-wide conference call scheduled for Friday, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.
The Twins were expecting to open their season Thursday, March 26 in Oakland. The City of Oakland and Alameda County announced today they would prohibit gatherings of 1,000 people or more through the end of March.
The Twins’ second series of the season was scheduled to start Monday, March 30 in Seattle. Washington Governor Jay Inslee announced a similar ban on large group events through March.
Both the Athletics and Mariners announced in press releases that they were working with the Major League Baseball Office of the Commissioner on alternative plans for their games impacted by the bans. Greg Johns of MLB.com reported some alternatives being considered are playing those games at Seattle’s spring training complex in Arizona or keeping the games in Seattle, but playing them in an empty stadium.
The Twins’ home opener is currently slated for Thursday, April 2. At this time (the evening of Wednesday, March 11) there have been no large group restrictions or any reports regarding the future of that game being up in the air, but it’s certainly a situation to monitor.
The NBA suspended its season Wednesday evening after a player on the Utah Jazz preliminarily tested positive for COVID-19. The NCAA announced it plans on holding both the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, among many other events, without fans in attendance.