TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays will meet Monday afternoon, after the commissioner hosts a noon conference call to update all 30 clubs, where they will discuss next steps amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
On Sunday, as news broke that an unnamed New York Yankees minor-leaguer contracted the coronavirus, a handful of players were at the club’s facilities in Dunedin, Fla., for informal workouts, a few taking batting practice, others hitting the gym or getting some throwing in.
The Blue Jays played the Yankees last Tuesday and while no one in the club has the coronavirus, the situation underlines why the social distancing being urged by health officials across North America is just as necessary for baseball.
It was inevitable a player would contract the illness, and once in a team complex, it can spread fast.
The Yankees quarantined all their minor-leaguers for two weeks and will deliver food to their hotel rooms, Ken Rosenthal and Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reported, demonstrating the chain of events triggered by a single case. All of the people those players encountered are potentially at risk now, as well, which is why it’s crucial that people avoid congregations.
Given the current uncertainty about when the season might restart – late May or early June is a timeline some are privately anticipating – Major League Baseball and the players union must reach an agreement on sending players home, since athletes are predisposed to work and train by their drive and focus.
The decision on whether to work out or not needs to be taken from their hands, essentially forcing them to heed recommended preventative protocols. Incremental steps toward separation – pre-season games were played before crowds as recently as Thursday – only allow further spread through asymptomatic carriers, making fast action essential.
To that end, MLB guidelines issued Sunday and in effect until at least Monday’s conference call stated that all non-roster players should return to their off-season residences, when possible, save for those requiring medical treatment from their teams.
Players on the 40-man roster must be allowed to remain at a team’s spring site and receive their usual spring allowances, and clubs must provide players with access to their facilities, although they are not expected to provide all the usual services.
Blue Jays players, for instance, were told to take their workout wear home and wash it there.
On Friday, the Blue Jays issued a memo instructing all their minor-league players to go home, save for a handful due to a variety of reasons. They were told to have their stuff cleared out of the complex Saturday and were expecting a further update Monday.
The club’s 40-man roster players may be in a similar boat Monday.
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