MLB Plans to Start Season on Time Amid Coronavirus Fears as Rob Manfred Speaks to Owners

A global epidemic won't be enough to stop baseball in 2020. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred will speak to team owners on Monday about potential risk and prevention of the Coronavirus according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. It will mark the first official league-wide call on the current Coronavirus outbreak.

Public health has been a wide-spread conversation surrounding sports over the past several weeks. The recent outbreak has already resulted in barred attendance in a Division-III NCAA Tournament game, with potential site closures and attendance limits on the Division-I Tournament in two weeks.

However it seems that baseball, despite drawing larger crowds than NCAA Tournament games, will disregard the potential health risk and carry on with the season and attendance as usual. Cases have been reported in multiple MLB Markets including Seattle, San Francisco, Arizona, Colorado and multiple areas in Florida.

While the Coronavirus scare isn't enough to postpone the season, MLB is still investing in virus prevention with the establishment of an internal task force meant to deal with possible complications in the coming months, according to a memo obtained by ESPN.

The league is currently "developing recommendations to mitigate the spread of coronavirus at ballparks" that "address proper hygiene, cleaning methods for the clubhouse and training room, and supplies that clubs may seek to purchase," according to the memo.

With just a few weeks until Opening Day, Manfred doesn't anticipate there will be any delay to MLB's 2020 season