Sources: Yankees have second minor leaguer test positive for coronavirus

ByABC News
March 17, 2020, 12:19 PM

The New York Yankees have informed their minor league players that another minor leaguer in the organization has tested positive for the coronavirus, sources familiar with the message told ESPN's Jeff Passan on Tuesday.

The Yankees have now had two minor league players test positive for coronavirus. The previous player had spent time in only the minor league portion of the Yankees' spring training facility.

The Yankees were among the teams whose major league players had resolved to stay in camp amid the coronavirus outbreak. On Tuesday, however, manager Aaron Boone left the team's complex in Tampa and said he was driving home to Greenwich, Connecticut.

"Again, it's starting to hit home more every day, it seems like," Yankees pitcher J.A. Happ told ESPN's Marly Rivera on Tuesday. "So we're just preparing and trying to be smart if we can and paying attention to the news."

Major League Baseball in a memo Sunday said major league players would be allowed to stay in camps, "but we anticipate that may change in the coming days as events continue to unfold and players become better educated about current conditions."

On Monday, MLB announced it has pushed back Opening Day until mid-May at the earliest.

"The recommendation from the union was for guys to go wherever they felt comfortable for the next 4-6 weeks, [whether] that was staying here at the facility or going home," said Yankees reliever Zack Britton, who is the team's union representative. "... Obviously the majority of guys aren't going to go to New York because of the spread of the virus up there. But that was the recommendation from the union; that's what I passed on to the guys."