Five Phillies test positive for virus, three teams shut down camps

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Phillies shut their spring complex after five players tested positive for COVID-19 and at least two others teams closed camps Friday, raising the possibility the coronavirus pandemic could scuttle all attempts at a Major League Baseball season.

The Toronto Blue Jays shuttered their site in Dunedin, Florida — about five miles from the Phillies' camp in Clearwater — after a player showed symptoms consistent with the virus.

The San Francisco Giants' facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, was shut after one person who had been to the site and one family member exhibited symptoms Thursday.

Philadelphia became the first big league team known to be struck by the outbreak. Three staff members at the camp also tested positive, and the Phillies didn't identify any of those affected.

The closures came while MLB owners and players try to negotiate a deal to begin the season amid the pandemic, with the parties stuck in a bitter dispute over money.

The sides had hoped to have players begin testing Tuesday and then start a second round of spring training on June 26. Most teams would likely hold those workouts at their home ballparks, rather than at their spring camps in Florida and Arizona.

Earlier this week, Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem wrote in a letter to players' union chief negotiator Bruce Meyer that “the proliferation of COVID-19 outbreaks around the country over the last week, and the fact that we already know of several 40-man roster players and staff who have tested positive, has increased the risks associated with commencing spring training in the next few weeks.”

Regarding the implications of the outbreak on the season, the Phillies said “it is too early to know.”

The players' union proposed a 70-game regular-season schedule Thursday, a plan immediately rejected by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred. The sides are 10 games and about $275 million apart. The sides had talked about having opening day on July 19.

The outbreak among the Phillies occurred as Florida has experienced rising incidents of new cases and rates of those testing positive for COVID-19. Over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new cases in Florida has increased by 1,422.7, or 144.4%.

A person with knowledge of the situation says the Tampa Bay Lightning closed their facilities Thursday after five team employees tested positive for the coronavirus. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the NHL and the team are not announcing the closure.

It was not clear how many Lightning players tested positive. The NHL is also no longer having teams announce individual players testing positive.