Anthopoulos on cancellation of Spring Training: 'It was about life'

NORTH PORT, Fl - Braves General Manager Alex Anthopoulos said Friday that the team will remain in North Port, Florida and continue to train and get treatment after the complex is deep cleaned over the weekend in light of the spread of COVID-19. According to Anthopoulos there are no minor or major league Braves players who have contracted the virus, however, he would not divulge if tests had been administered to his players or staff, or if tests would take place in the future citing HIPAA laws.

Anthopoulos said he met with the team and the mood was conciliatory. "It was about life...honestly, we have not talked baseball at all," The GM said via conference call. "I think this is much well beyond baseball. I think our discussions today have just been about what's going on in the world right now- talking about our families, just sitting around the clubhouse talking to players, talking to coaches and talking to staff."

The Braves plan on taking some time to make more concrete plans regarding player movement. Upper management is scheduled to reconvene Monday to assess whether players will be allowed to leave the training facility to return to their homes in the near future.

"Everybody came in (Friday) for a light workout, get whatever throwing they need to do...hitting...treatment. Take Saturday, Sunday off... (we're) working on deep cleans of all the facilities and come back in on Monday like a regular Spring Training day and hopefully we'll have more direction, more information, more updates." Anthopoulos said.

Major League Baseball announced Thursday that all remaining Spring Training games would be canceled and the start of the regular season would be delayed at least two weeks.