Baseball players start heading home
Major League Baseball teams were advised Sunday to shutter group workouts at spring training and home facilities as coronavirus prevention measures continue.
Individual workouts are still allowed, at least for now, but odds are that will quickly change and many players were heading elsewhere. That said, Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer hosted a sandlot- style charity whiffle ball game on Saturday in Arizona (numerous precautions were taken including switching balls often and using disinfectant wipes) with the proceeds going to team staffers who have lost their jobs for now.
Those Toronto Blue Jays players remaining in Dunedin had been slated to have access for optional workouts on Sunday and there was a meeting with them scheduled for Monday before it was expected there would be a mass exodus of players to their home bases.
Earlier Sunday, ESPN first reported a New York Yankees minor league player tested positive for COVID-19. The unidentified player was only on the minor league side with the Yankees, not with major- leaguers in Tampa, the team said. The player was isolated on Friday after developing a fever, the Yankees told ESPN.
As a whole, all clubs were scheduled to have a conference call with the commissioner’s office on Monday for further updates on the entire situation and how some things will play out once a full shutdown occurs (such as player pay, defining where they can go).
Last week MLB moved opening day back by at least two weeks and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweeted Sunday: “The hoped-for April 9 MLB start date was always seen as a best- case scenario, and with developments over the past few days, based on talks with several execs today anytime before June would be viewed as welcome.”