MLB is set to advise teams against conducting organized group workouts at team facilities, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic (via Twitter). Limiting mass workouts is designed to comply with health experts’ recommendations that people avoid congregating when possible to help contain the spread of the coronavirus. However, facilities are likely to remain open for individual use on a case-by-case basis, Rosenthal adds. MLB has formally sent the advisement to the clubs, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). One player has informed ESPN’s Marly Rivera that teams are indeed now set to cease all organized group workouts.

MLB is mandating that non-roster players return home if safely possible (via Sherman). Players on a team’s 40-man roster remain eligible to stay onsite at spring camps, MLB announced, citing a lack of authority to send rostered players home under the CBA. Nevertheless, even players on the 40-man roster are expected to be barred from group workouts at club facilities.

Many teams were planning to continue working together while the sport is on pause. That no longer seems it’ll be the case, at least not at team facilities. Players are still free to work out individually and organize training groups among themselves. Some will almost certainly do so. But with experts calling for everyone to practice social distancing wherever possible, MLB (wisely) determined that mass gatherings of players are simply too dangerous at this point.

Today’s development only lends further credence to yesterday’s report that the season won’t be getting underway until May at the earliest, as Sherman points out (via Twitter).

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