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Boyd 'can't imagine' how hard minor leaguers have it during stoppage

Jamie Squire / Getty Images Sport / Getty

All of professional baseball is being impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, but Detroit Tigers pitcher Matthew Boyd is especially concerned about those in the lower levels of the sport.

"For a minor leaguer, I can't imagine how hard it is right now, especially now that they aren't able to train at facilities like this, where quite frankly it's free for them to work out," Boyd said in a conference call Monday, according to The Athletic's Cody Stavenhagen.

MLB canceled spring training last week and later advised teams to cease group workouts at spring and home facilities. Non-roster players have been advised to head home.

Those players, who are only paid during the season and would be relying on small per diems, housing, and meals provided by teams have been left scrambling.

"I can't imagine how hard that would be," Boyd added. "The longer this goes on in terms of no paychecks, more and more people are going to be affected. And it's not just us. It's people at the stadiums, people that are all around the game. Everybody is affected by this.

"But I can't imagine someone that's making $12,000 a year, that this is really the only income that they have, and now they have to switch gears after getting everything down here and moving on. I can't imagine what that would be like - to have the paycheck stop coming in or not come in at all. It's going to be tough."

People around the baseball community are already taking measures to help minor-league players find work during the stoppage.

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