ALL-STAR GAME HEADING WEST TO DENVER’S COORS FIELD
Major League Baseball plans to relocate the All-Star Game to Coors Field in Denver after pulling this year’s Midsummer Classic from Atlanta over objections to sweeping changes to Georgia’s voting laws, according to a person familiar with the decision.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday night because MLB hadn’t announced the move yet. The commissioner’s office was expected to declare today that the Colorado Rockies will host the game.
MLB pulled the July 13 game from Truist Park in Atlanta in response to Georgia voting rules that Republican Gov. Brian Kemp quickly signed into law March 25. Critics, including the CEOs of Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola, have condemned the changes as being too restrictive.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred made the decision to move the All-Star events and the amateur draft from Atlanta after discussions with individual players and the Players Alliance, an organization of Black players formed after the death of George Floyd last year, the commissioner said in a statement.
Kemp has vowed to defend the measure, and other Republicans have criticized MLB’s move. Texas Gov.
Greg Abbott backed out of throwing the first pitch at the Texas Rangers’ home opener on Monday and said the state would not seek to host the All-Star Game or any other special MLB events.
Coors Field last hosted the All-Star Game in 1998, the fourth season for the stadium and sixth for the Rockies franchise.
Nationals ready to play
The Nationals broke from a huddle by the mound Monday and scattered to the nine positions on the diamond. But it was not quite the Nationals who first gathered for spring training in mid-February. And it was not quite the Nationals who left West
Palm Beach, Fla., a week ago, expecting to begin their season against the Mets.
It was a team without several key players because of coronavirus protocols and an outbreak last week. Absent from the on-field workout were shortstop Trea Turner, first baseman Josh Bell, left fielder Kyle Schwarber, catchers Yan Gomes and Alex Avila, second baseman Josh Harrison, closer Brad Hand, starters Patrick Corbin and Jon Lester, and infielder Jordy Mercer. In their places were a mix of minor leaguers, called up for an opener against the Braves today.
The Nationals have had four players test positive for the coronavirus. Nine others within the organization — including seven players and two staff members — are in quarantine after being deemed close contacts to infected individuals.
Notable
Reds outfielder Nick Castellanos was suspended for two games and fined for his role in an on-field brawl during the season’s opening weekend, the first discipline given by Michael Hill in his new role as Major League Baseball’s senior vice president for on-field operations. Castellanos appealed the penalty to special assistant John McHale Jr. and will not serve the suspension while the appeal is pending.
• Reds pitcher Sonny Gray, who began the season on the 10-day injured list with a muscle strain in his back, threw 60 pitches over 42⁄3 innings at the Reds’ alternate training site.
• The Braves have brought back relievers Carl Edwards Jr. and Jesse Biddle and signed former Gold Glove-winning infielder Yolmer Sanchez to minor league contracts.
• Infielder David Fletcher will get a $2 million salary this season as part of his $26 million, five-year contract with the Angels, up from a $615,000 salary in the majors and $296,760 in the minors under the one-year contract he agreed to in February.