On Friday afternoon, Washington Nationals players Josh Harrison and Joe Ross participated in a half an hour Zoom conference call with reporters to discuss their involvement with the Players Alliance. Here are some of the interesting quotes that came out of the session:

• Josh Harrison discussed how this past year had opened his eyes and "allowed people to have conversations that we haven't had in the past." He also stated that he is happy to "be apart of something that is wanting to help communities," referring to being part of the Players Alliance. Additionally, Harrison said, "Nothing happens if you don't have those conversations. Nothing happens if you don't speak out. The worst that can happen is 'no.' I always tell people, if you hear 'no,' you're in no different position than you were if you don't speak."

• Josh Harrison on the decision to re-sign with the Nationals early in free agency: "Those guys let me be me. ... I like the coaching staff, I like the players. For me, it really wasn't a matter of seeing what's out there because it was a place where I wanted to be."

Joe Ross joined Harrison during the Zoom session. The majority of what Joe Ross discussed was around COVID and the 2021 season. Here are some highlights:

• Joe Ross on not playing in 2020 during COVID: "We were at a standstill so long with going back and forth on what the season's pay was going to look like, I think we kind of lost a little bit of insight on the whole reason we stopped playing baseball in spring training. It was a health reason."
• Joe Ross mentioned that he wished that "there was maybe a more complete plan on how to handle the whole situation," referring to some of the uncertainty during the spring and early summer when MLB was trying to figure out what was the best and safest way for baseball to return.
• Joe Ross noted that he could talk to family members who are also medical professionals to decide if he should play during the COVID shortened season. "With the medical professionals in my family - both my parents, my sister, some close family friends - it just kind of made sense to take this as serious as you could," said Ross, he had not previously discussed his decision in detail. "There were a lot of unanswered questions going into it. Not that we know everything now, but the initial shock value of what was happening added up with a few other things, and I decided to take time away, which is always hard to do."
• Joe Ross addressed the future 2021 MLB season. Ross recently signed a one year deal with the Nationals to play during the MLB 2021 season. Even though there remains a lot of uncertainty around what the 2021 season is going to look like in terms of schedule and health protocols that might be implemented, Ross is looking forward to playing in 2021 and is comfortable returning to play: "I'm pretty confident going into this year that everyone will have a pre-solidified plan on how to do so," he said. "I know they made some adjustments last year in the middle of the season, once they did start back up. I'm confident going into spring training. Hopefully, everything will be going better. I know they're saying winter's going to be a hard time. I'm looking forward to getting this spring started."