Every Major League Baseball team, except perhaps the Toronto Blue Jays, will train at its home ballpark, a person with direct knowledge told USA TODAY Sports on Saturday. The person requested anonymity because they were not authorized to address the matter publicly.
With travel restrictions still in place in Canada, the Blue Jays would seemingly need to remain in Dunedin, Florida.
MLB has had at least 12 major-league players and staff members test positive for COVID-19, and on Friday decided to immediately shut down all spring training facilities in Arizona and Florida, a high-ranking official with direct knowledge of the decision told USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity since MLB had not released a formal statement.
The league ordered all facilities to undergo a deep clean. Five Philadelphia Phillies and a player from the Houston Astros tested positive this week, with three spring-training facilities closing Friday.
The Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants also closed their respective facilities in Dunedin, Florida, and Scottsdale, Arizona, after several players reported experiencing symptoms. The past two weeks have brought spikes in COVID-19 positive tests in Florida, Arizona and Texas, home of five teams. There currently are 20 states that have had a recent surge of positive tests.
With travel restrictions still in place in Canada, the Blue Jays would seemingly need to remain in Dunedin.
The timing of the outbreak comes at a time when MLB is scheduled to resume spring training in the next two weeks. Commissioner Rob Manfred is expected to mandate a season on Monday if the owners and players don’t reach an agreement. The owners want a 60-game season, while the players are seeking a 70-game season.
