SEATTLE — The Minnesota Twins' first two series of the upcoming 2020 regular season will see some changes.
The Oakland A's released a statement saying that they're seeking "alternative plans" to the early portion of the schedule, which includes opening the season against the Minnesota Twins on March 26.
The City of Oakland cancelled all events hosting 1,000 or more people in city-owned venues through the end of March, therefore the A's will be adjusting their season-opening series with Minnesota.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced Wednesday a ban on all large gatherings in the three counties of the Seattle metro area because of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.
Inslee said social gatherings of 250 or more people, including sporting events, are banned through at least the end of March, with the Seattle area dealing with the worst COVID-19 outbreak in the country thus far.
In a statement, the Mariners said they are working with MLB to find alternatives for the games scheduled during their opening homestand.
MLB's options could include playing the early season Mariners home games at the team's spring training facility in Arizona, moving them to another open venue, or trying to switch scheduled home games with the Rangers and Twins.
The Twins also responded with a statement: "With today’s announcement by Washington Governor Jay Inslee that will necessitate the relocation of the Seattle Mariners opening series with the Twins from March 30-April 1, we will be working with Major League Baseball and the Mariners on alternate plans for the scheduling of these games.We will provide more information about the plans for this series as it becomes available."
