Major League Baseball remains on hold amid the coronavirus pandemic, with the earliest start date for the regular season May 10.
On Friday, MLB and the MLBPA signed off on a deal regarding how things will shake out if there is a shortened or canceled season.
MLBPA chief Tony Clark said shortly after the deal was struck that while players prefer to play in front of fans and not empty ballparks, they are open to doing whatever gets them back playing as soon as possible.
With the above at the top of mind, ESPN's Marly Rivera spoke with Yankees manager Aaron Boone (and many other current managers) about how they're communicating with players during the hiatus, whether they expect the season to happen, and more.
"We have been in constant communication over the phone," Boone said about how he is staying in touch with his players, who are in Florida and elsewhere. "It hasn't been difficult because that's how I communicate with them in the offseason. It's a different way of communicating at this time of the year, so I think that's one of the frustrating things about it. In my selfish, bubble mode, this is the time of the year when you're getting ready to start the season and we have all those personal interactions, and that's all gone. That's the frustrating part of it, professionally and selfishly."
Boone, who is at home in Connecticut, has Gerrit Cole as one of his new neighbors. And he told Rivera about the recent catch he had with Cole.
"You better be on top of your game and you better be paying attention," Boone said. "When I threw with him a few days ago, I was like, 'OK, now I see.' There's just a little extra hop on a normal throw."
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Among the topics of concerns for his players, Boone said it's mostly "topical or personal stuff."
"They're getting a lot of updates from the players' association -- they're updated as much as I am," Boone explained. "Most of our guys certainly understand that the great unknown right now is when stuff's going to start up. I'm sure we all spend a lot of the day speculating and having our own thoughts and opinions about when it might [start again], but at this point that's just a guess."
As far as what he's doing day-to-day to get through the current situation, Boone noted that his family has helped in a big way and that he's been watching lots of old baseball games.
"I was watching the Randy Johnson 20-strikeout game that I was involved in, on the wrong side," Boone said. "And I was talking with my dad, actually, because I was watching 2000, the Yankees-Mets, Game 1 of the Subway Series. I was talking to my dad about a situation and what he would have done and what I would have done. Obviously, this is an incredibly difficult time for our country and for the world, and it has been a time to hit the pause button, which isn't always the worst thing, and has given us a chance to connect in a different kind of way."