Blue Jays: What does the team have planned for now?

Now that MLB Baseball has come to a screeching halt, the Blue Jays will have to figure out what to do in mean time, starting with the short term.

Now that every majors professional sports league in North America has taken a pause due to concerns about the Covid-19 virus, there are a lot of athletes wondering how to fill their time.

For the Blue Jays and the rest of Major League Baseball, things will likely be taken day by day for now, as we still have no idea how long it’ll be before things can resume as usual. In the mean time, the Blue Jays are doing what they can, and waiting on a few more answers.

For now the plan is to give the players a day off and then hold an optional workout on Sunday, with the hope that Monday could bring a little more clarity on the situation.

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The good news is that the Blue Jays are taking things seriously, and that so far, there haven’t been any issues with any players or personnel. According to yesterday’s article from Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet, “no Blue Jays player has yet been tested for COVID-19”, although that could obviously change, as professional athletes certainly aren’t immune. We learned that earlier this week when the NBA’s Rudy Gobert tested positive for the Covid-19 virus, which set off an immediate reaction in basketball that was soon followed by others.

I also found it interesting that the article made mention that “even pro sports teams have limited access to tests at this stage”, which helps us understand the limitations the health care system is facing in North America right now (let alone the rest of the world). Then again, the fact that every major sports thing has taken a pause should tell you a lot, especially given the millions and even billions that could be lost.

Thankfully the health of the public is a greater priority, and the Blue Jays are passing that message on to everyone in the organization, not just the players. They have scouts and organizational staff working from home, and are allowing the players to leave the spring training facility if they wish. And while they haven’t addressed things like the stadium staff yet, it’s early and I’m confident that it will be considered and taken care of in time. From Nicholson-Smith’s article, “Their welfare is certainly one of the things that we’re dealing with”.

For the time being, the organization and the entire league is in a holding pattern, and the Blue Jay are being as flexible, and as prepared as they can. Realistically, that’s all there is to do at the moment.