MINNEAPOLIS _ Riding the momentum of a 101-win season, the Twins' first division title in nine years, and the addition of some accomplished veterans, Rocco Baldelli challenged his team to reach the World Series as spring training opened. But the coronavirus pandemic that has devastated the nation and the world may do the same for the Twins' lofty ambitions.
The confident team Baldelli exhorted during training camp may never take the field, not as currently constituted.
"We're not there yet. We're not preparing with (cancellation) in mind. There will be plenty of time for that if it comes to that," Derek Falvey, the Twins' president of baseball operations, said last week. "We're focused on getting everything and everybody ready for the (2020) season, whenever it comes. And we believe it will."
An agreement between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association, reached on March 27 but not yet announced as final details are sorted out, established the framework of the sport's eventual return, and the policies that will govern it until then _ even if Opening Day is put off until next March. The deal provides the players an advance on their salaries, makes changes to the amateur draft and outlines the conditions necessary for playing again, this year or next.
The repercussions on the Twins, as a team and individual players, are numerous. So as the baseball world waits out its longest interruption since the 1994-95 strike, here's a primer on a few of the off-the-field issues:
