SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Rockies have laid out their basic blueprint for baseball activities as they deal with the coronavirus outbreak and wait for a starting date of the regular season.
While Major League Baseball on Friday officially suspended spring major training for all 30 teams, MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association agreed that players can elect to return home, remain in their spring training cities, or return to their club’s home city.
In response, the Rockies decided that it will keep its spring training facility at Salt River Fields open and anticipate that many of their players will participate in workouts there. General manager Jeff Bridich said the club would operate a program similar to the one that’s run in January when players begin gearing up for spring training.
“At this point, we don’t have a final count, but we have a general feeling that a lot of guys will stay here, and we plan on keeping this place open, to a certain degree, on a weekly basis,” Bridich said after an hour-and-a-half meeting with the players Friday.
Bridich said that although “nothing is 100 percent set in stone,” the players will be provided with food and training and all baseball facilities will be available.
Although MLB has officially canceled at least the first two weeks of the regular season, which was scheduled to begin March 26, it’s likely that the season will not begin until sometime in May. That means that a “second version” of spring training will likely be needed.
“There has been talk already about this,” manager Bud Black said. “Obviously there will have to be some lead time for the players to get into game shape again. The players were tracking toward that — we were two weeks from opening day. Now, we don’t know when that’s going to be. But we will get plenty of time from MLB to get back in game shape and it will be at least a three-week period … to be ready for a season.”
Following are other details of the Rockies’ plan:
— Bridich said the club did not make any recommendations to the players, stressing that they are free to make their own decision about whether they want to remain in Arizona or return home. Players with families would be the most likely to leave Arizona. The overreaching goal, Bridich said, “is to limit everyone to exposure to this virus.”
— Minor-league players and staff are being sent home, beginning immediately.
— The Rockies are not planning to hold intrasquad games in an effort to build up pitch counts, at least not in the short-term.
“When we get clarity on when the season might start, and when camps might reopen, there will be plenty of time to get into game shape,” Black said.
— Players have been told to avoid exposure to large groups and to monitor their own health.
“We have told them to be honest about how they feel and be truthful about symptoms,” Bridich said. “This is no time to be macho or tough. If you are not feeling well, you have to communicate that, and that goes for everybody involved. And that’s not just players, it goes for the entire organization.”
— To this point, no Rockies player or staff, and no employee at Salt River Field has been diagnosed with the coronavirus, Bridich said.
