Cubs Spring Training Update: Reporting Dates, Added Game, Ticket Prices

The Cubs made a flurry of announcements Friday.

First are the reporting dates for spring training: Pitchers and catchers report Tuesday, February 14 with the first workout Wednesday, February 15. The reporting date for other position players is Friday, February 17 and the first full-squad workout will be Saturday, February 18.

Also, the Cubs added a spring-training game, vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks at the D-backs facility, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, a night game at 7:10 p.m. MT (8:10 CT). I have added that game to the BCB Cubs spring training schedule page. (This is now a split-squad date, as the Cubs were already scheduled to play the Reds at Goodyear that afternoon.)

Finally, the Cubs posted spring-training ticket prices for all home dates (click on the link).

Lawn ticket prices range from $12 to $30, and various other prices range from $20 to $70, depending on the type of ticket.

I have two reactions to that:

• Yikes!
• It’s what the market will bear, or at least the Cubs think so.

You’re paying to see the defending World Series champions — or at least a reasonable facsimile, since in many of these games, Cubs starters will depart by the middle innings and leave you watching a glorified Double-A game.

Spring Training — and yes, MLB wants us to CAPITALIZE it that way as they now view it as a “jewel event” like the All-Star Game or the Postseason (the latter also supposed to be CAPITALIZED that way) — has become big business, a profit center, and I guess you can’t blame MLB or its teams for wanting that.

You can still feel the intimacy of spring training if you go watch a minor-league game at one of the complexes, or even go watch a practice, and you can do that for free.

Sloan Park spring-training tickets go on sale tomorrow, Saturday, January 7 at 11 a.m. CT (10 a.m. MT) at the box office in Mesa, at cubs.com, or by calling 1-800-THE-CUBS. If you can’t wait, there is a Mastercard presale going on now (started at noon CT Friday) where you can buy tickets for a 15 percent premium over face with a Mastercard, or 20 percent with other cards.

If you’re coming to spring training, good luck with ticket buying and enjoy the sunshine.