Yankees Manager Aaron Boone is ready for spring training and dealing with the updated COVID-19 protcols. “We’ve all gone through a year of this, of living through this,” said Boone. “And so I think we’re a little, much better equipped of how to handle ourselves, how to conduct ourselves, how to make good use of our time. Matt Slocum/Associated Press, file
One year later, players and managers say they have a better understanding of what it takes to play baseball through a pandemic.
Pitchers and catchers around the game reported to spring training Wednesday saying they appreciate what’s at stake as they try to make sure the season starts on time. The protocols have been tightened even further from what they experienced during the abbreviated 2020 season.
“We’ve all gone through a year of this, of living through this,” New York Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said. “And so I think we’re a little, much better equipped of how to handle ourselves, how to conduct ourselves, how to make good use of our time.”
New standards agreed to by Major League Baseball and the players’ association require players, staffers and other team personnel to wear electronic tracing wristbands for ballpark access. Players underwent a five-day at-home quarantine before reporting, with exceptions for essential activities and approved outdoor workouts and exercise.
They’ll need to stay in their living quarters throughout spring training except for baseball activities, medical care, grocery shopping, takeout food pickups and outdoor physical activity. Outdoor dining will only be allowed if they get permission beforehand.
“Between the players’ union and MLB, the agreement I think is pretty rock-solid when it comes to player safety, staff safety,” Chicago White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito said Tuesday. “There’s going to be a few things that are a little more, what’s the word for it, given more importance. I think some of the workouts are going to be in smaller groups, a lot more on point with mask wearing and things like that. I don’t think it will affect our work too much. We’ll certainly be able to get done what we need to get done.”
But the restrictions will make it more challenging to get ready for the season.
Catcher James McCann faces hurdles this spring trying to bond with an entirely new pitching staff after signing a $40 million, four-year deal with New York Mets. Normally, the veteran backstop would invite pitchers to dinner, set up play dates for their kids, go out and grab a drink – anything to help develop those relationships.
Forget the off-field meetups. Under MLB’s protocols, even getting together at the team’s Florida complex is more difficult. Gathering in places like the video room – usually a convenient spot for 3-4 players to meet – is a no-no.
“Nobody likes to wear a mask and sit and talk 6 feet away from each other,” McCann said. “A lot of different things I guess we took for granted.”
MLB is hoping to have a full season after playing a 60-game schedule last year that included no fans in the stands until the postseason. The Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals both dealt with COVID-19 outbreaks that resulted in multiple postponements.
“We’re the lucky sport to have 162 games, but with that obviously comes a lot of thoughtfulness and dedication and commitment,” new Marlins general manager Kim Ng said. “To play this game, you have to be absolutely committed, especially this team with them going through what they went through last year. People understand how it can decimate.”
Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez battled COVID-19 last summer and says he wasn’t the same the rest of the season.
“After that, I was not comfortable with my body,” said Martinez, who added that he feels great now.
One of the first things Cardinals President John Mozeliak did upon arriving in Jupiter, Florida, was to request a list from the medical staff of players and coaches who tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies.
Mozeliak believes knowing which players already have at least some measure of protection from the coronavirus can help in preventing an outbreak during spring training.
“I believe we had about 15 or 18 people with antibodies in this camp,” Mozeliak said, “so that was encouraging.”
Mozeliak also expressed hope that some staff and players could begin receiving the COVID-19 vaccine by Opening Day.
“But I certainly understand, collectively, you’re dealing with a pretty healthy group of young people,” he said, “and when you’re looking across our country, there are people more deserving of that opportunity than this group. But clearly if you were vaccinated, it would ease up a lot of the protocols we have in a sense of where you can go and where you can’t.”
For now, players say they are ready to follow the protocols while looking forward to the day they’re playing in full stadiums again.
“Thankful it’s going to be, not quite normal, but closer to it,” Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner said. “I think we’re on the path back to that, so hopefully it all happens sooner rather than later.”
TRADE: Right-handed reliever John Curtiss was traded by the Tampa Bay Rays to the Miami Marlins for minor league first baseman Evan Edwards.
The Rays also dealt minor league catcher Ronaldo Hernandez and minor league infielder Nick Sogard to the Boston Red Sox for right-handed pitcher Chris Mazza, left-handed pitcher Jeffrey Springs and cash.
Boston placed catcher Kevin Plawecki on the COVID-19-related injured list.
Mazza pitched nine games as a starter and reliever for Boston last year and went 1-2 with a 4.80 ERA. Springs went 0-2 with a 7.08 ERA in 16 games out of the bullpen.
Edwards was a fourth-round pick out of North Carolina State in 2019. He hit .281 with nine homers in 73 games in the low minors that year. Hernandez is a career .293 hitter over five minor league seasons. Sogard batted .290 with 20 stolen bases in 63 games in Class A in 2019.
DODGERS: Former Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke has joined the Dodgers as a special assistant, according to the Boston Globe. Roenicke is in Arizona for spring training and will work “in many different areas” throughout the season.
Roenicke, 64, was fired on the last day of the 2020 season after guiding the Red Sox to a 24-36 record in his only year as manager. Roenicke discussed returning to the Red Sox in some role but ultimately decided to stay closer to his southern California home and reunite with the Dodgers.
Roenicke originally joined the Red Sox in Nov. 2017 as Alex Cora’s bench coach and spent two years in that role before replacing Cora last February. When Cora was rehired as manager after serving a one-year suspension for his role in the Astros’ cheating scandal, the Red Sox hired Will Venable as bench coach, opting to shake up their coaching staff in Cora’s second tenure.
PADRES: Fernando Tatis Jr. has agreed to a 14-year deal that will keep the electrifying shortstop with the San Diego Padres until he’s 35 years old, according to two people familiar with the situation.
Reports from The Athletic and others indicate the contract is worth $340 million.
BLUE JAYS: The Toronto Blue Jays will play their first two homestands of the regular season at their spring training facility in Dunedin, Florida, because of Canadian government restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
After starting the season with three-game series at the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers, Toronto’s schedule has a homestand with four games against the Los Angeles Angels from April 8-11 and the Yankees from April 12-14.
The Blue Jays follow with a trip to Kansas City, Boston and Tampa Bay, then have home games against Washington on April 27-28 and Atlanta from April 30 to May 2. That is followed by a 10-game trip to Oakland, Houston and Atlanta.
It remains unlikely they would gain approval to play May games in Toronto. A return home in the second half may be more realistic, after players and large segments of the population in the U.S. and Canada are vaccinated.
The TD Ballpark in Dunedin has a capacity of about 8,500.
INDIANS: Cody Allen, the Cleveland Indians’ career saves leader and an underappreciated closer for the team, has retired at age 32.
Allen spent seven seasons with Cleveland, which drafted him in 2010. The right-hander recorded 149 saves and appeared in 456 games – both club relief records.
Allen had a 24-31 record with a 3.14 ERA and 153 saves in 481 games. He also had seven postseason saves.
Allen got more than 30 saves three times, including 32 in 2016 when he helped the Indians win the AL pennant and get to Game 7 of the World Series.
TWINS: Bench coach Mike Bell has taken an indefinite leave from the team because of kidney cancer.
The 46-year-old Bell had surgery to remove the growth on Jan. 28, shortly after being diagnosed. He’s been recovering at home with his family in Arizona.
“He’s also very, very optimistic and also very encouraged and waiting for his return to the dugout,” Manager Rocco Baldelli said. “The situation, it’s obviously serious, but Mike has handled this with great courage.”
Bell is the younger brother of current Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell and the son of longtime major league player and manager Buddy Bell.
CUBS: The Cubs agreed to a deal with right-hander Brandon Workman, who played for the Portland Sea Dogs and Boston Red Sox, according to multiple reports. Workman received a one-year, $1 million contract with $2 million in incentives, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reported.
The Cubs also are bringing back a fan favorite.
Right-hander Pedro Strop is signing a minor league deal with an invitation to big league camp, according to multiple reports. Strop, 35, was a staple of the bullpen for seven years (2013-19), becoming one of their best relievers in that span with a 2.90 ERA, 1.048 WHIP and 10.3 K/9 rate.
• Jake Arrieta returned to Chicago Cubs, finalizing a $6 million, one-year contract.
He can earn $1 million in performance bonuses under the deal.
METS: Manager Luis Rojas condemned the behavior of former New York hitting performance coordinator Ryan Ellis but said he never witnessed his longtime coworker act inappropriately after Ellis was fired recently for sexually harassment.
The Athletic reported that in the summer of 2018, three female Mets employees complained to human resources that Ellis, then the minor league hitting coordinator, had directed lewd comments to them in person and via text message.
Ellis, promoted to the big league coaching staff last summer, was fired last month after New York investigated the matter for a second time. His dismissal came shortly after the club fired newly hired general manager Jared Porter for sending sexually explicit, uninvited text messages and images to a female reporter in 2016 while working for the Chicago Cubs.
Former Mets manager Mickey Callaway, now the pitching coach for the Los Angeles Angels, was suspended this month and is under investigation amid allegations of inappropriate behavior toward several women who work in sports media.
In a statement to The Athletic, New York said it investigated and disciplined Ellis in 2018 but did not terminate his employment. The team said it received new information in January regarding Ellis’ behavior in 2017-18 and fired him Jan. 22 for “violating company policy and failure to meet the Mets’ standards for professionalism and personal conduct.”
“We’ve set new expectations,” Rojas said from the club’s spring training complex in Port St. Lucie, Florida. “There’s also new avenues added to report cases like this. It’s been disappointing. I’m sorry to see it from afar.”
DIAMONDBACKS: Two players tested positive for COVID-19 and didn’t start practice with the team’s pitchers and catchers on Wednesday.
Manager Torey Lovullo said veteran catcher Stephen Vogt received a positive result during intake testing and would miss at least the next 10 days. Pitching prospect Luis Frias tested positive a few days earlier and also didn’t practice.
GIANTS: Infielder Donovan Solano went to salary arbitration with the San Francisco Giants, asking for a raise to $3.9 million rather than the team’s $3.25 million offer.
A decision by arbitrators Melinda Gordon, Gil Vernon and Robert Keller is expected Thursday.
The 33-year-old second baseman, who also can play shortstop, hit a career-high .326 with three homers and 29 RBI in 190 at-bats during the pandemic-shortened season. He earned $509,259 in prorated pay from a $1,375,000 salary.
Solano is eligible for free agency after the World Series.
Teams have won four of seven cases decided thus far. Chicago Cubs outfielder Ian Happ is the only player awaiting a hearing.
ATHLETICS: Catcher Sean Murphy will be sidelined for several weeks with a collapsed lung that required surgery but is expected to be fine and fully recovered by Opening Day.
The 26-year-old Murphy woke up a few weeks ago with the spontaneous issue, perhaps caused from a strong coughing episode while sleeping.
He will drive to Arizona in the coming days to join the team with the hopes of resuming baseball activities around March 1 then playing Cactus League games by mid-month.
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