PEORIA, Ariz. — It certainly didn’t sound like baseball had stopped, with the sound of minor league catchers’ mitts popping and pitchers throwing in the bullpens at Mariners spring training Thursday afternoon.
But despite the baseball activity going on around team CEO John Stanton, he spoke of the cessation of spring training and what is next for the Mariners players amid the risk of the coronavirus, which forced Major League Baseball to suspend spring games and delay the start of the regular season to April 9 at the soonest.
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Stanton spoke to the major league players before most left for the day and told them he wants them to stay in the area and continue to work out at the spring training complex, given the virus outbreak in the Seattle area and the small number of confirmed cases in Arizona.