Yankee Mets News: New York Governor says “Play ball,” okay to use NYC fields

The New York Yankees and New York Mets got a bit of good news this afternoon by way of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.  Last night MLB shut down spring training parks in Florida and Arizona as several teams reported positive cases of the coronavirus.  The Philadelphia Phillies were hardest hit when five players and three workers have tested positive in the last few days.  Cuomo, in his daily news conference, announced that the New York Yankees and New York Mets were returning to NYC for spring training 2.0.

“I can’t wait to see spring training in New York,” Cuomo said. “It’s great news.” Cuomo said the Yankees and Mets will come up with a plan as soon as possible to train at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and CitiField in Queens.“The state will work with them to come up with a plan that works,” he said. “This is a state that’s ready, willing, and able to partner with sports teams safely.”

He stressed that the recovery process is still going well, and NYC remains on track to enter phase 2 on Monday. Just 24 people died of coronavirus in the day ending Friday, Cuomo said, a number that remains encouragingly low.

Both Florida and Arizona are seeing increased positives whereas New York has shown a constant decrease in new infections and hospitalizations. Both Florida and Arizona opened their economies much earlier than New York even started phase one.  This does not mean that the COVID-19 virus’s ugly head won’t rear up and shut down spring training or the whole baseball season if a second wave is dangerous enough.

The New York Yankees George M. Steinbrenner training complex is a huge complex of eight fields where players can spread out.  Now going back to Yankee Stadium they will all have to jam into one stadium.  It is expected that even more stringent precautions will be taken. The Yankees have not reported any new positive cases.

Meanwhile, the latest move by MLB to close spring training camps amidst players catching the virus and with 18 states now reporting increased cases of the virus a baseball season of any kind seems to be becoming increasingly murkier. With the contentious MLB MLBPA going on for weeks now, it appeared the sides were closer to making it happen. But that suggestion seemed to hit a roadblock when the owners proposed a 60 day season with 100% of the prorated salaries paid to players.

In the most recent move, the Players Union countered with a 70 game season, which the owners immediately rejected. MLB wants to get in the season before the virus has a second wave in the fall, as suggested by Dr. Tony Fauci, the leading virus expert. There is a possibility that as states open their economies, that wave may already be on the horizon. In the end, MLB or MLBPA may have nothing to say about a baseball season.