Philadelphia
The Philadelphia Phillies shut their spring complex after five players tested positive for COVID-19 and at least two others teams closed camps Friday, raising the possibility the coronavirus pandemic could scuttle all attempts at a Major League Baseball season.
The Toronto Blue Jays shuttered their site in Dunedin, Florida — about five miles from the Phillies' camp in Clearwater — after a player showed symptoms consistent with the virus.
The San Francisco Giants' facility in Scottsdale, Ariz., was shut after one person who had been to the site and one family member exhibited symptoms Thursday.
Philadelphia became the first big league team known to be struck by the outbreak. Three staff members at the camp also tested positive, and the Phillies didn't identify any of those affected.
The closures came while MLB owners and players try to negotiate a deal to begin the season amid the pandemic, with the parties stuck in a bitter dispute over money.
The sides had hoped to have players begin testing Tuesday and then start a second round of spring training on June 26. Most teams would likely hold those workouts at their home ballparks, rather than at their spring camps in Florida and Arizona.
Earlier this week, deputy commissioner Dan Halem wrote in a letter to players' union chief negotiator Bruce Meyer that "the proliferation of COVID-19 outbreaks around the country over the last week, and the fact that we already know of several 40-man roster players and staff who have tested positive, has increased the risks associated with commencing spring training in the next few weeks."
Regarding the implications of the outbreak on the season, the Phillies said "it is too early to know."
The players' union proposed a 70-game regular-season schedule Thursday, a plan immediately rejected by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred. The sides are 10 games and about $275 million apart. The sides had talked about having opening day on July 19.
Players say Major League Baseball told union that teams will not play more than 60 games during 2020 regular season.
The outbreak among the Phillies occurred as Florida has experienced rising incidents of new cases and rates of those testing positive for COVID-19. Over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new cases in Florida has increased by 1,422.7, or 144.4 percent.
Angels: Albert Pujols will pay the salaries of the Los Angeles furloughed employees in his native Dominican Republic for five months, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Friday because the veteran slugger didn't publicly announce his commitment to give roughly $180,000 to cover the salaries. The strict budget cuts made by Angels owner Arte Moreno during the coronavirus pandemic have included extensive furloughs for scouts, player development staff and minor league employees. The furloughs also included most of the staff of their Dominican academy in Boca Chica.
Japan: Japanese baseball managed to do what American baseball has not — play ball. After a three-month delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the world's second-most famous baseball competition opened a season Friday that will be shortened from its regular 143 games to 120. That, of course, is twice as many as MLB figures to play — if it plays at all. The regular season had been scheduled to start March 20. It is slated to end on Nov. 7, followed by postseason play.
Twins: Minnesota removed a statue of former owner Calvin Griffith at Target Field, citing his racist remarks in 1978 and saying the team could no longer "remain silent." Griffith moved the Washington Senators to Minnesota for the 1961 season, and the franchise was renamed the Twins. During a speech in Minnesota to a Waseca Lions club in 1978, he said he decided to make the move "when I found out you only had 15,000 blacks here," the Minneapolis Tribune reported at the time.
Rangers: Texas signed its top two draft picks Friday, even though it is unclear where second baseman Justin Foscue and outfielder Evan Carter will begin their professional careers. Foscue, the 14th overall pick last week out of Mississippi State and a former Amsterdam Mohawk player, got a $3.25 million signing bonus. Second-round pick Carter, who had committed to play at Duke, was chosen 50th overall from Elizabethton High School in Tennessee. He got a $1.25 million signing bonus.
Atlantic League: The independent Atlantic League won't be able to play this season because of the coronavirus pandemic, and its Sugar Land Skeeters will host a four-team circuit whose managers are to include Roger Clemens, Pete Incaviglia and Greg Swindell. The Atlantic League said Friday that the High Point Rockers, Long Island Ducks and Southern Maryland Blue Crabs are working with several professional clubs to put together a 70-game schedule starting in mid-July and that will by followed by five-game championship series at the end of September. Sugar Land will host a four-team league from July 3 through Aug. 23, and each team will play 28 games.