In the wake of one of their minor league players testing positive for the coronavirus, the New York Yankees will be quarantining all of their minor leaguers for two weeks.
It was inevitable that someone in professional baseball would test positive for the coronavirus at some point. The epidemic had spread throughout the country, and with delayed responses and a lack of testing, people could be sick without knowing. That shoe dropped on Friday, when New York Yankees minor league pitcher Denny Larrondo tested positive for COVID-19.
Understandably, the Yankees had to do something in responce. According to reports, they have decided to quarantine all of their minor league players for two weeks, with food delivered to them at the hotel.
Starting today, all #Yankees minor leaguers will be quarantined for two weeks, sources tell me and @LindseyAdler. Food will be delivered to them at their hotel rooms. Team learned earlier that a NYY minor leaguer tested positive for COVID-19.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 15, 2020
At this point, Larrondo is the only player on the Yankees to test positive for the coronavirus. However, the Yankees have to take every precaution possible to contain the spread of the epidemic as much as humanly possible.
The Yankees had already planned on closing off the minor league complex anyway. Even before this quarantine, the minor league section was not expected to reopen until March 25 at the earliest. Obviously, with Larrondo’s positive test, that time frame will be delayed further.
It is also interesting to note that the Yankees had administered just one test for the coronavirus – Larrondo’s. More positive results could be forthcoming, especially as the Yankees have quite the incentive to test their other minor leaguers.
This also continues what has been a disastrous past two years for the Yankees in regards to health. They had literally run through the depth to their depth in 2019, and were already missing two of their starting pitchers, as well as Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, at the start of the upcoming season. Considering their luck, if any team was to have a player contract the coronavirus, it was probably the Yankees.
The New York Yankees have put their minor leaguers in quarantine. Considering that their only player tested for COVID-19 came back positive, this is the correct move.