Update: The Daily Herald and Seattle Times report that Washington State Governor Jay Inslee is expected on Wednesday to restrict gatherings of over 250 people, including sporting events.



If government officials impose restrictions that prohibit events on the scale of Major League Baseball games in the Seattle area, the Mariners could temporarily play their home games in Arizona at their spring training facility, people familiar with the contingency plans said on Tuesday.



No alternative scheduling plan is final. It is unknown what directives, if any, government officials in Washington or Seattle will issue in an effort to fight COVID-19 — or whether the timing of those directives would affect the regular season. But the possibility that games could be canceled nonetheless looms as myriad events, in sports and otherwise, are shut down across the country.



With Opening Day 16 days away, an ordinance longer than two weeks in length would likely impact...