Despite the Cactus League writing a letter to MLB requesting the start of 2021 Spring Training be delayed until March, every indication is camps will open as previously scheduled this month.
That effectively was cemented once the Players Association denied a proposal from the league that was going to push back the start of Spring Training and the regular season, and shorten the 2021 schedule to 154 games.
However, MLB did note start dates were subject to the two parties “reaching an agreement on health and safety protocols.” Those negotiations remain in the works, and it appears that will entail changes to the Spring Training schedules this year.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Cactus League is going to eliminate split-squad games:
While #MLB is revising the Grapefruit spring-training schedule in Florida to have teams play in pods, as @Ken_Rosenthal and @MattGelb reported,there will also be some minor changes in the Cactus League in Arizona. All split-squad games will be eliminated, so sked slightly changes
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) February 8, 2021
For the Los Angeles Dodgers that would entail no longer playing split-squad action against the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres on March 9, Kansas City Royals and Cincinnati Reds on March 16, or the Milwaukee Brewers and Colorado Rockies on March 26.
Furthermore, the Dodgers are scheduled at present time to face a split-squad Texas Rangers team on Feb. 28, and face the same scenario with the Cincinnati Reds on March 2, and Arizona Diamondbacks on March 18 and 25.
It’s unclear which games that were split-squad will remain on L.A.’s schedule once the change is put into effect.
Dodgers report dates
Dodgers pitchers and catchers are due to report at Camelback Ranch by Wednesday, Feb. 17, with their first official workout of camp taking place the following morning. Position players must arrive within a few days after pitchers and catchers, and the first full-squad workout will then take place Tuesday, Feb. 23.
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