Baseball players respond to MLB on coronavirus protocols

Associated Press | Thursday, May 21, 2020 5:31 p.m.

Grounds crew workers pull a tarp off home plate as they continue to keep the Seattle Mariners’ field in playing shape as the ballpark went into its seventh week without baseball on May 11 because of the coronavirus outbreak.

NEW YORK — The baseball players’ association gave management a wide-ranging response Thursday to a 67-page proposed set of protocols for a season to be played during the coronavirus pandemic.

Management had presented the union and the 30 teams the proposed draft last Friday.

The union said Thursday it addressed: protections for high-risk players, access to pre- and postgame therapies, testing frequency, protocols for positive tests, in-stadium medical personnel and sanitization procedures.

Players viewed many of the concepts in the original draft as over-the-top, such as arriving in uniform at the ballparks, a prohibition on them leaving without team permission and a ban on guests other than immediate family members. Players also objected to a ban on the use of showers and hydrotherapy.

The union wants more frequent testing than management’s proposed “multiple times per week.”

MLB is expected to make an economic proposal to the union within a few days. MLB hopes to start the season by early July.