Juan Pierre can opt out of Phillies contract on March 31 - MLB

Juan Pierre’s minor-league contract with the Phillies included an invitation to spring training and an opt-out clause that allows him to become a free agent again on March 31 if he’s not on the big-league roster.

If he does make the team Pierre will get $800,000 in guaranteed money and Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Daily News speculates that he’s a near-lock to do so in part because Ryan Howard’s injury creates a roster opening.

As for why Pierre chose to sign with the Phillies, he revealed:

To be honest, I didn’t have too many choices. It was late in the offseason and I felt [general manager] Ruben [Amaro Jr.] pretty much had his team set, so once they called I was shocked and I guess honored, too. They’re not in the business of wasting time. They’re in the business of winning.

And business is good!

MILWAUKEE — The Brewers had two players and a staff member test positive for the coronavirus at their alternate training site in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Milwaukee president of baseball operations David Stearns confirmed the positive results Saturday and said they shouldn’t impact the major league team. Teams are using alternate training sites this season to keep reserve players sharp because the minor league season was canceled due to the pandemic.

Stearns said the positive tests came Monday and did not name the two players or the staff member. Players must give their permission for their names to be revealed after positive tests.

The entire camp was placed in quarantine.

“We have gone through contact tracing,” Stearns said. “We do not believe it will have any impact at all on our major league team. We’ve been fortunate to get through this season relatively unscathed in this area. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get all the way there at our alternate site.”

Milwaukee entered Saturday one game behind the Reds and Cardinals for second place in the NL Central, with the top two teams qualifying for the postseason.

The Brewers still will be able to take taxi squad players with them on the team’s trip to Cincinnati and St. Louis in the final week of the season. He said those players have had repeated negative tests and the team is “confident” there would be no possible spread of the virus.

“Because of the nature of who these individuals were, it’s really not going to affect the quarantine group at all,” Stearns said. “We’re very fortunate that the group of players who could potentially be on a postseason roster for us aren’t interacting all that much with the individuals that tested positive.”