Nationals’ player tests for COVID; 6 isolated
A Washington Nationals player tested positive for COVID19, and four teammates and a staff member have been quarantined after contact tracing on the eve of the regular season’s start, general manager Mike Rizzo said Wednesday.
Rizzo did not identify any of the six members of the organization who are involved.
“We’re still in the process of finding out exactly what their status is,” Rizzo said. “They’re certainly out for tomorrow’s game.”
The 2019 World Series champions — who finished tied for last in the NL East in the pandemicshortened 2020 season — are scheduled to host the Mets on Thursday night, with Max Scherzer facing Jacob deGrom in a matchup between pitchers who own a total of five Cy Young Awards.
“We will certainly have some roster decisions to make, depending on how this all shakes out,” Rizzo said in a video conference with the media.
The positive result came from a test conducted Monday, while the Nationals were still in Florida for spring training. Word of the test came a little after 1 a.m. Wednesday, after
the team already had traveled home to the nation’s capital, Rizzo said.
The flight home was where there was close contact between the five who are quarantining and the player who tested positive.
Scherzer said he was not on that team flight and traveled separately with his family.
The Nationals — who had planned to work out at their stadium Wednesday, before it was called off because of rain — did not have a single player test positive during their six weeks of spring training camp in West Palm Beach, Fla., according to Rizzo.
“We’ve done so well in spring training,” Scherzer said. “Everybody across the game — we had seen so few positive cases across spring training as a whole. It just shows you how quickly that can turn. It can turn on a dime. We have to face it, and we have to overcome it.”
Lindor extension: Francisco Lindor and the Mets have agreed to a $341 million, 10year deal, keeping the AllStar shortstop in Queens for the long haul after acquiring him from Cleveland in the offseason, according to a person familiar with the agreement.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal hadn’t been announced. Briefly: The Cubs agreed to a oneyear deal with catcher Tony Wolters that pays $800,000 while in the major leagues and $150,000 while in the minors, and they designated righthander James Norwood for assignment . ... George Springer’s Toronto debut will be delayed while he starts the season on the injured list with a strained oblique muscle. Springer left the Astros to sign a $150 million, sixyear contract with the Blue Jays . ... Texas reliever Jose Leclerc had ligament reconstruction surgery on his right elbow and will be sidelined up to 14 months . ... The Mariners placed center fielder Kyle Lewis on the 10day injured list because of a bone bruise in his right knee, sidelining the reigning American League Rookie of the Year . ... Kansas City shortstop Adalberto Mondesi will begin the season on the injured list with a right oblique strain. Infielder Nicky Lopez was recalled from the team’s alternate site . ... Umpire Angel Hernandez lost his lawsuit against Major League Baseball alleging racial discrimination . ... Marlins Park will be renamed loanDepot park in a multiyear naming rights deal between the Marlins and the financialservices company.