When birds migrate north in the spring, baseball players and fans migrate south to Florida and Arizona every March for spring training.

Not only is spring training an opportunity for MLB teams to get some practice in before a long season, but for fans to escape the cold weather and enjoy some warmth, sunshine and baseball in warmer climates. 

Since the late 1800s, MLB teams have sent their players and coaches south to train and practice in a warmer climate to prepare for the season.

Since 2018, MLB has split the league with 15 teams training in Florida and the other 15 in Arizona. The reason for those two locations is pretty straight-forward: the weather. 

MLB spreads out most of the teams that train in Florida along the Gulf Coast, with a few teams in south Florida. Average high temperatures in south and central Florida during March hover around the upper 70s and lower 80s. 

The Toronto Blue Jays and Minnesota Twins play in the two coldest spots as far as March temperatures go, averaging high temperatures in the lower 40s.

Not only do the players and fans get to escape the cold, but Toronto and Minneapolis average around 8 inches of snowfall during March.

Minnesota Twins’ spring home, Fort Myers, has an average high temperature in March almost 40 degrees warmer than Minneapolis, and hasn’t even had a low temperature below 40 degrees in March since 2013. 

Along with the Twins, the Blue Jays, Red Sox and Tigers all get about a 35 degree temperature increase after traveling south during a typical March day.

The Marlins actually get to travel more than 80 miles north to Jupiter from Miami, and get a break from the heat, with average temperatures about 3 degrees lower. 

How about the rest of the list? Besides the Astros, Rays and Marlins, the temperature difference is pretty significant and worthy of a trip to Florida for Spring Break. 

In the Cactus League, all 15 teams play and train in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The average high temperature in March for the Phoenix area is a balmy 78.1 degrees.

Since the Cactus League is more centralized with no two teams more than a 45 minute drive apart, average temperatures are all within a few degrees of each other.

The biggest difference from the Grapefruit League? The desert offers much lower humidity and less rainfall. 

Midwest teams from the NL and AL Central Divisions have the biggest disparity when it comes to Arizona temperatures, getting about a 30 degree increase during the month of March.

The Colorado Rockies escape Denver’s snowiest month of the year on average to play in sunny Scottsdale. 

Similar to the Marlins, the Arizona Diamondbacks who play in downtown Phoenix, get to travel 20 minutes into Scottdale, where the average March high temperatures is only a few degrees lower.

So, if you’re a neutral fan in a cold weather state and want to take in some baseball on Spring Break, do you go to Florida or Arizona?

Florida teams are more spread out requiring longer drives, and you’ll have to deal with more humidity and higher rain chances. The Cactus league is much more centralized, and it’s a dry heat, but besides baseball, Phoenix may have less to offer for tourist opportunities when you’re not at a game.

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