Still waiting on baseball

By Steve Melewski

Orioles

June 20, 2020, 3:46pm

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To play 60 games or 70 games. Decisions, decisions. Something this important should take days to resolve.

Actually, this should have been resolved weeks ago. But on we go. Still not sure if there will be a baseball season, how many games it will consist of and how the schedule will look.

While the sides haggle over this, there have been several players apparently on both minor league and major league rosters that have tested positive for the coronavirus. There are four members of the Yankees organization that tested positive. This could include coaches and staff members. There were some players working out at spring training facilities in Florida and there have been positive results involving the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater, the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin and Yankees in Tampa. Now all spring facilities have been closed down.

Orioles facilities in Florida and Maryland have been closed since March 13, my colleague, Roch Kubatko, reported yesterday.

Meanwhile, Major League Baseball players, at least 38 of them, were expected to vote on the owners' latest proposal of 60 games at full prorated salary at some point this weekend. This would include one player from each team and an eight-player executive committee. But now USA Today reported that vote won't be held for a couple of days. Now players are expected to be reviewing the health and safety protocols after several tested positive for the virus.

There seems to be a lot to overcome to get to a 2020 season. So much for being 100 percent sure of a season.

Are the sides still dragging this out? Yep. Are they still testing everyone's patience? Yep.

Undrafted free agent update: The Orioles have agreed to terms with senior outfielder Dylan Harris from the University of North Carolina, per MLB.com. He is the latest to agree to a max $20,000 undrafted free agent deal. The 5-foot-9, 190-lb. Harris played center field the last two years for the Tarheels. In 19 games this season. he hit .274/.404/.575 with one double, three triples, five homers and 11 RBIs. He scored 22 runs and walked 14 times with eight strikeouts.

In 2019, he started every game in center and batted .268/.397/.423 with 15 doubles, one triple, seven homers, 62 runs and 29 RBIs. He was second on the team in runs, scoring two or more 17 times.

That makes seven players that have agreed with the Orioles, although there have not been any announcements from the club.

There are eight clubs that have signed more non-drafted players to this point. Boston has added 13, with Cincinnati and Philadelphia getting 10 each. The clubs with nine players are the Chicago Cubs, Houston and the New York Yankees. St. Louis and Texas have eight players.

Happy Father's Day to all!