Why Elvis Andrus has done more than Texas Rangers teammates during coronavirus hiatus
Elvis Andrus has had more on his plate during the coronavirus pandemic than the rest of the Texas Rangers teammates.
He is working out at his home in Frisco, leaving his house only for agility work and sprints in the backyard. The veteran shortstop is hitting off a tee, though only 30 or 40 swings a day just to stay sharp.
He has even started to meditate.
Andrus remains in regular communication with manager Chris Woodward and his teammates via a group text, and he has seen the video Joey Gallo posted of himself hitting off a tee inside his high-rise apartment in Dallas.
“That was unbelievable,” Andrus said. “It shows you how much he cares.”
But Andrus is the Rangers’ representative to the MLB Players Association and a members of the union’s executive subcommittee. When the players and the owners were hammering out an agreement on how to move forward with the 2020 MLB season, Andrus was involved.
The final deal left Andrus feeling hopeful.
He believes there will be a season, that the players achieved their biggest goals and that the union is as strong as ever as it moves toward a new collective bargaining agreement next year.
“First of all, we want to be able to play. And after that is finding a way to put in the best schedule we can to have a great season, even if we don’t play the same amount of games,” Andrus said. “What’s going on in the world, especially here in the U.S., will define when we can start the season. There’s a lot of things that need to be taken care of. “
MLB and the union agreed to resume playing once bans are lifted on large gatherings, restrictions on travel are lessened and experts feel that the risk to players or fans is safe. However, the two sides reserved the right to consider playing games without fans.
Andrus isn’t too keen playing in empty ballparks, but it’s a possibility that will be considered depending on how things unfold.
“It’s hard for me to answer that because, I’m guessing, you never know what’s going to happen,” he said. “We have to work with what the CDC and government say. It’s not our choice. We want to play with fans in attendance. Baseball without fans is not baseball.”
The biggest gain for players in the agreement, Andrus said, is that they will receive service time proportional to what they would have received had a full 162-game regular season been played. Along the way, Andrus was hearing from players who wanted updates on the negotiations and who were voicing their concerns.
The union, Andrus said, is as united as he has ever seen it.
“The unity through the last deal that we did and moving forward is going to be really key,” he said. “The players are buying into it, and everyone wants to learn and wants to know and keep moving forward on our terms. We want to continue to move this game the right way and on the right path.”
This story was originally published March 30, 2020 at 5:47 PM.
