MLB players settle to wait out pandemic

PHOENIX — Major league teams adjusted to their strange new normal, with more players returning to their hometowns as they realized baseball won't be played for months.

Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said he feels like he's “playing hooky” every day as the world fights the new coronavirus pandemic that caused postponement of opening day until at least mid-May.

“My heart knows where it's supposed to be,” Lovullo said Tuesday. “But my head is saying we've got a bigger cause that's right in front of us. It's still something that we are all getting used to.”

Major League Baseball responded to the players' association on Tuesday, two days following the union's counteroffer on issues such as salaries, major league service time, performance bonuses, opt outs and the amateur draft. Baseball's current collective bargaining agreement runs through 2021, and the chaos has increased the possibility of talks leading to a modified deal with a later expiration.

Houston ace Justin Verlander had surgery on his right groin and is expected to be out about six weeks, which could make him available for the delayed opening day. Verlander dealt with the problem early in spring training. His first start was delayed until March 3 because of discomfort in the same area.

As Yankees manager Aaron Boone started driving home from spring training in Tampa, Fla., to Connecticut, New York announced a second minor league player tested positive for coronavirus. They are the only two known baseball players who have tested positive.

“While under self-quarantine, the player reported fatigue and an elevated body temperature to Yankees medical personnel,“the Yankees said in a statement. “The test was administered on Sunday, and the player returned to selfquarantine following the positive results.

“We can also report that within the past 48 hours his symptoms have dissipated.”

Lovullo said about half of his big-league roster remains in the Arizona, though the D-backs have the advantage of being based in Phoenix, so several players also live there during the offseason. He said those who remain are coming into the team's facility in shifts no larger than four or five in an effort to make sure social distancing protocols are followed.

He said there's also a “skeleton staff” of team personnel assisting players.

“We're making sure that as people are moving around the facility that there's a lot of space between everybody and the area is being cleaned as soon as those people move on,” Lovullo said.\