A fifth Twins player has tested positive for the coronavirus, but this infection apparently took place in Minnesota.
Wilfredo Tovar, a nonroster infielder invited to camp as part of the team's taxi squad in St. Paul, was cleared to take part in workouts with a negative test upon arrival in Minnesota, but a subsequent test last week — the Twins' 59 players and on-field staff members are tested by MLB every other day — came back positive, Twins President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey said Sunday.
Tovar, a 28-year-old Venezuelan with 40 major league games with the Mets and Angels, has been quarantined, and contact tracing was undertaken to make sure no other player was infected. All tests were negative, Falvey said.
Tovar has shown no symptoms of the virus, Falvey said, and the team has found no connection to another carrier of the virus. "It's possible [Tovar] was positive upon arriving in St. Paul" and received a false negative, Falvey said.
Tovar is the fifth player to miss Twins camp because of COVID-19, the third minor leaguer. Infielder Nick Gordon and righthander Edwar Colina tested positive in Florida before reporting to camp and have yet to travel to Minnesota. First baseman Miguel Sano and utility player Willians Astudillo tested positive upon arrival and remain in quarantine.
Colina has tested negative in back-to-back tests now and has been cleared to return to action, Falvey said, but the team so far has kept him at their offseason base in Fort Myers, Fla. "We want to make sure he's building up a little bit. Get [him] to full strength before we make the decision to fly him up here," Falvey said of the 23-year-old prospect.
The other three Twins have not yet been cleared to return.