KANSAS CITY -- The Royals are continuing to plan ahead, as best they can, for what hopefully at some point will be a return to the MLB season.
And Royals general manager Dayton Moore said the organization is doing so with all the precautionary guidelines in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s like [Royals owner] John Sherman said,” Moore told MLB.com, “we feel that as our social responsibility it’s important for baseball to model the expected behavior during these difficult times.
“And we’re adhering to Mayor [Quinton] Lucas’ [stay-at-home] directive. We are doing our part.
“In the meantime, we are just trying to stay informed as Major League Baseball continues to plan and to manage in these challenging times.”
Moore also indicated that no one in the Royals’ organization, to his knowledge, has tested positive for COVID-19.
Meanwhile, the Royals, like many other teams, have made some roster decisions during the MLB shutdown. MLB has indicated that clubs should carry on with certain roster decisions.
The Royals last week optioned third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez, and pitchers Gabe Speier and Kyle Zimmer, to Triple-A Omaha.
“We had made those decisions literally the day before we were shut down,” Moore said.
Another decision that would have been forthcoming was how to handle the opt-out clauses of certain non-roster invitees. In the Royals’ case, that would have applied to pitchers Greg Holland and Trevor Rosenthal, who both had opt-out deadlines set for this Thursday, which would have been Opening Day.
Moore said that while no decision has been made by MLB on extending those opt-out dates, he hopes that will be the case.
In the meantime, the Royals continue to get across the message of social distancing and proper hand washing through social media.
“Everyone needs to do their part right now,” Moore said.