St. Louis Cardinals Baseball on Hold

photo: Busch Stadium (Jeff Curry/Imagn)

This post is a quick summary of the current situation regarding baseball play by the St. Louis Cardinals both at the major and minor league levels and will be kept updated as events warrant.

Major League spring training

  • Remaining spring training games have been cancelled. Refunds will be issued to ticket purchasers.
  • Players were allowed to return home on Friday, March 13 after an agreement between MLB and the Players’ Association.
  • The Jupiter facility will remain open for those who want to work out informally, estimated to be 15-25 players, but is closed to the public. Update: On March 16, MLB mandated that all unofficial workouts be stopped and the Cardinals closed camp entirely.
  • There may be a spring “Camp 2” of 14-17 days duration before the regular season resumes.

Major League regular season

  • The start of the regular season is postponed at least two weeks (until at least Thursday, April 9). Update: On March 16, MLB accepted a CDC advisory to not hold mass attended events for eight weeks. A revised Opening Day target was not announced.
  • The Cardinals are not offering refunds to ticket buyers for affected games. MLB still hopes to reschedule the cancelled games.
  • Any changes to the remaining schedule are to be determined, but at least one report has MLB considering trying add the cancelled games onto the end of the regular season.
  • Plans for the June 13-14 London Series are to be determined.

Minor league spring training

  • Cardinals minor league players were sent home on Friday, March 13.
  • External spring games (which would have begun on Friday, March 20) are cancelled.
  • Plans for extended spring training (to have started April 9) are to be determined, but it should still follow regular spring training.
  • On March 17, the Cardinals announced that minor league players will receive daily per diem payments as if they were still in camp.

Minor league regular season

  • The start of the regular season is postponed indefinitely (was to open on Thursday, April 9).

Other

  • World Baseball Classic Qualifiers are postponed.
  • Busch Stadium Tours, Cardinals 5K and CAP Education Programs at the Stadium are postponed until further notice.
  • As part of a cross-MLB initiative announced March 17, the Cardinals committed $1 million for a fund to pay gameday employees.

2020 draft

  • The NCAA has canceled all spring sports and their associated tournaments, including the College World Series.
  • The status of the MLB 2020 First-Year Player Draft, to have been held in conjunction with the CWS in Omaha on June 10-12, is unknown.

Streaming services

  • This article (click on link) outlines the known current status of MLB.TV, MLB Extra Innings and MiLB.TV subscriptions.

Notes

  • The Governor of Illinois has banned live sporting events until at least May 1, putting any potential games in the state during April into serious question. This (along with any other state or local bans) would almost certainly prolong the potential resumption of both the majors and minors regular season schedules well beyond April 9.

Bonus for members of The Cardinal Nation

Cardinals Welcome 157 to 2020 Minors Spring Camp


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Brian Walton can be reached via email at brian@thecardinalnation.com or for fastest turnaround, pose your questions on The Cardinal Nation’s members-only forum. Follow Brian on Twitter.

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