Arizona Diamondbacks president, CEO frustrated at regular-season cancelations

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5/AP) - Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred canceled 93 more games Wednesday, appearing to cut off the chance to play a full 162-game schedule and threatening locked-out players with loss of salary and service time. Many are frustrated, including Derrick Hall, president, and CEO of the Arizona Diamondbacks, as the stoppage reached its 98th day.

“I’m really disappointed for our fans; we need to get back on the field and play because enough is enough,” said Hall. The Diamondbacks are losing two home series at Chase Field, and Hall expressed his sadness that no deal has been reached between the league and players union. Hall is not a part of the negotiations because he is not an owner, but he was optimistic there would be a deal last week. However, the news of more cancelations broke on Wednesday afternoon, leaving many to wonder about the fate of baseball for this season.

“That’s a crushing blow to me to our staff, to our fans, and we were trying to find a way to bring those games later into the schedule, but from what I’m hearing, those games are out, so we are going to lose home games. We can’t do that, we have to go play baseball,” said Hall.

With the new cancellations, 184 games have been wiped out from the regular season. Manfred says the opening day is postponed until at least April 14. Previously, Manfred had called off the first two series on March 1, a day after his initial deadline for a deal.

Hall added he feels deeply for small businesses in the downtown Phoenix area who are losing money from a lack of spring training games. However, MLB players have jumped in to help many people affected by the cancelations. Last week, they started a $1 million fund to support stadium workers and others affected by the stoppage. Major League Baseball started a similar $1 million fund on Tuesday to help workers affected by the canceled spring training games.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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