Indians outfielder Delino DeShields Jr. has tested positive for COVID-19, president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti told reporters this morning at the team’s summer camp (Twitter link via Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon-Journal). DeShields is experiencing some symptoms, though they’re thankfully said to be mild in nature at this point. For the time being, he remains at home and will need a pair of negative tests before he can travel and join the club in Cleveland.
DeShields, 27, was acquired alongside right-hander Emmanuel Clase in the trade that sent two-time Cy Young winner Corey Kluber from Cleveland to Texas over the winter. He’s part of a crowded Indians outfield mix that currently has plenty of options but lacks much definition outside regular playing time for impressive young center fielder Oscar Mercado. In 408 plate appearances with the Rangers last year, the fleet-footed DeShields hit .249/.325/.347 with four homers, 15 doubles, four triples and 24 stolen bases.
I thought teams weren’t allowed to announce this?.. did he tell them to?.. interesting.
presumably
They can announce with a player’s consent. Antonetti announcing the news means that DeShields approved it.
It would be hard not to announce it, with players reporting for camp.
If the player wants to keep it private, names can’t be released.
He gave the consent to release it.
Until there’s a vaccine or the virus is completely eradicated, I don’t see how sports will realistically happen.
Testing, bubbles.
All of the major sports leagues will take a shot at some solution for the 2020 seasons. It’ll be a patchwork of ideas. Most will fail and all will have subpar results
This will change in 2021 when hard core ‘bubble’ solutions will take hold. Unless the unexpected happens- virus dies of its own volition, a vaccine is ready sooner than expected or 50 governors suddenly develop a competence that they all lack today.
How the heck can this country fail to act as one and face this together ? No red, no blue, no Democrats, no Republicans just red, white and blue Americans.
Dodgers NL Champs 15 – 6 record
Twin AL Champs. 12 and 7
No WS
The scoreboard watching needs to end. It serves no purpose.
The survival rate is basically the same as influenza.
Kluber trade keeps looking better and better 🙁
A steroid user and a covid-19 patient for a former Cy Young winner, not bad. Kluber’s prorated salary is probably only around 4mm too, very affordable.
Realistically they’re probably only getting 10-12 starts out of Kluber so that trade really isn’t looking great for anyone
there is also that 2021 option
I forgot all about that last team option so you’re right
Hopefully his symptoms remain mild. This virus is so freaking unpredictable
While I don’t claim to have any more information on predictability than the next guy, I do have access to info concerning hospitalizations at my local hospital. The sickest patient of eleven on a ventilator is a 20yo male, with no known pre-existing health problems.
And an overwhelming majority of people don’t even get sick. Your point?
I’ll chime in here. This virus is extremely contagious. Yes, the majority of people who contract it do not get sick (or very sick). It will spread extremely quickly throughout the population unless distancing and personal protection devices are the norm. Once it spreads throughout a given population, “most people” will be fine. Some will get very sick and die.
This is why I believe there will be no major sports until there is a vaccine. Baseball will start and stop. As will basketball and hockey. Football (college and pro) will not start. – My opinion.
No point, just saying the truth, while the majority of young health people may survive this pandemic others may die. Yes, it seems to be a fact of life now, we good now?
As much as we’d all love to see any sort of season, they are completely delusional to think this season is going to happen. I expect it all to be shut down within a couple weeks.
Screw it then! Let’s have a tournament of 7 game series’. At least then they have a better shot of finishing it
The Power of Money though.
They will at least start the season. Whether they can finish it is the question. The playoffs, however, are looking really shaky. The owner sure won’t like it if they have to cancel their big money games.
The stars are aligning for Corey Kluber to win the Cy Young this season, and lead the Rangers past the Indians for a WC spot lol. I’m tempted to put money on it now, I mean look at all that’s happened:
1. Kluber got immense time to recover, and to get used to his new organization.
2. The Rangers ripped off the Indians because they were being so cheap.
3. The decent piece the Indians got, got busted for obvious PED’s.
4. The other piece they got, ends up getting Corona (hopefully he doesn’t spread it around, though that would be another interesting layer to this onion).
I believe that karma is tearing the Indians apart, because of them being so cheap, and not believing in the man who brought them two Cy Youngs, and almost single-handedly to game 7 of the WS in 16′.
BTW: I love Delino, even when he was bad, I still didn’t get mad for some reason. He’s a good dude, and I hope he recovers quickly.
At this time do we know how much Kluber has left? Do we know he will pitch well? If he doesn’t pitch well and the Rangers decline his option they will get Kluber for 60 games. Despite the suspension, Cleveland still has 6 years of control on Clase. It is still too early to grade the trade.
I don’t really see any correlation between that and Kluber or the Rangers having more success. I didn’t like the deal either, but from the Indians’ perspective they probably would have just declined the option if they didn’t think they could trade him.
In hindsight, Clase getting busted for PEDs probably isn’t a shocker when he went from throwing upper 80s to 100 in like 3 or 4 years without a ton of significant adjustments. DeShields was always just going to be a bench player, and I imagine they’ll use him like how they used Drew Stubbs in 2013. It’s not a great return at all, but DeShields could at least contribute and Clase was intriguing enough to exercise the option and trade him for.
That said, I still don’t see a correlation between that and whether or not Kluber does any better this year. If anything, it’ll probably negatively impact him because he hasn’t gotten to throw to his new catchers or learn from the organization in person. It’s also possible that the Indians and Rangers could both make the playoffs so that doesn’t really make a lot of sense either. It’s probably not karma as much as it’s just a decision that isn’t working out.
The Rangers ripped off the Indians because they’re cheap? Considering the Tribe exercised his option only to flip him for something instead of nothing means that anything they got in return was gravy. That one of the players cheated while a Ranger and will pay the price as an Indian and the other tested + in a pandemic must really make you feel good. Congrats on winning that trade to this point. With the season being a wash, I still think Clase will come back next year and beyond, be a solid late inning guy and contribute far more to Cleveland than Kluber will to Texas. Enjoy!
DeShields has C19, Clase suspended. This trade is about to overtake the Chris Archer deal before Kluber even pitches.
MERCI BUECOUPS!!!!
Someone hasn’t mentioned the Archer trade since, well, 5 AM (EDT).
I’m pretty sure you’re being sarcastic but there’s not a deal anytime soon that’s overtaking the Archer trade. Meadows and Glasnow (and Baz) all have a ton of team control left, while Kluber has a third of a season and a team option for next year.
Ya a little bit of sarcasm. It was a rare deal that didn’t look too good for the Pirates the day it got made, and then managed to look worse almost on a daily basis.
But I remember when Theo signed Carl Crawford and that TB shortstop (so bad his name escapes me) who couldn’t hit or catch a ball you rolled to him. And Theo’s considered the gold standard by some.
It happens. These guys have a lot of pressure, unlike most of us who get to watch from afar and take pot shots. And our behinds aren’t on the line like theirs are. So I’ll allow the occasional flub.
(Oh ya, Julio Lugo, I think).
Deshield seem fine 2 days ago in a interview on mlb networks
And he’ll seem in an interview in 2 more days, for many this is nothing.
He was just on IT the other day and looked and sounded fine. He must either have a very mild case, at least right now, or he contracted Covid-19 after the interview. If it is the latter, this virus could run through the entire Cleveland camp in a hurry.
Random question about that show…
Rose and Millar already had studio grade cameras set up in their homes, why did they start doing the show over Skype during the shutdown?
Solidarity?
DeSheilds is still in Arizona and not at the Indian camp. He has to test negative once in Arizona before coming to Cleveland and twice more in Cleveland before he will be allowed in camp.
Cleveland lost that Kluber trade horribly. Surprising since they have a pretty good front office.
Here’s a possible outcome for the season:
So many players test positive that some teams can’t put enough players on the field. They stop playing.
No one dies. All have mild symptoms.
People begin to think.
Here’s a possible outcome for the season:
So many players test positive that some teams can’t put enough players on the field. They stop playing.
No one dies. Some have mild symptoms while some have more serious symptoms.
Those with more serious symptoms thought, like many that, “this was only a respiratory virus. Turns out, it goes after the pancreas. It goes after the heart. It goes after the liver, the brain, the kidney and other organs”.
Maybe one of the players with COVID-19 experiences a blood clot that leads to a stroke, or “extreme inflammation that attacks multiple organ systems. The virus can also cause neurological complications that range from headache, dizziness and loss of taste or smell to seizures and confusion.”
People begin to think that maybe, just maybe, that the long term effects are not known yet and a great many in the medical field are worried about that while a great may layman guffaw and say it’s nothing more than a flu.
Oh no
Wonder if he participated in any protests.
Good thing it’s not deadly and is just a scam for Bill Gates to sell you a vaccine ,