Rhett Wiseman realizes many minor league baseball players have it worse than him right now.
The former Vanderbilt University national champion and minor leaguer from Mansfield, Mass., is spending his quarantine time in West Palm Beach, Fla., waiting for the baseball season to resume. The Washington Nationals prospect rented an apartment with a couple of other minor leaguers prior to the start of spring training. Those other players went home on Sunday, after MLB issued a memo that minor league players should “return to their offseason residences to the extent practical”.
Wiseman stuck around because he has a $554,100 signing bonus to fall back on, although that has now been stretched for nearly five full years since his selection in the third round of the 2015 MLB Draft. So, Wiseman will stay in Florida and get in workouts where he can -- in the apartment complex pool, on the beach, or even on his deck.
"We had one day of spring training, and they told us to get out of here," Wiseman said. "I don't really want to go home because there are still things I can do down here. I can go to the pool and beach while staying away from people. I can read a book on my deck. There's nothing to do at home besides sit in the house."