10:30am: Passan tweets that the updated tally is 11 of 33 players who’ve been traveling with the club (i.e. the 30-man roster and three-man taxi squad) and a pair of coaches have tested positive. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald and Sherman hear the same (Twitter links). Mish adds that some of the team’s more notable players are among the positive group.
Major League Baseball has issued the following statement:
Tonight’s scheduled games between the Miami Marlins and the Baltimore Orioles at Marlins Park and the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees at Citizens Bank Park have been postponed while Major League Baseball conducts additional COVID-19 testing. The members of the Marlins’ traveling party are self-quarantining in place while awaiting the outcome of those results. Major League Baseball has been coordinating with the Major League Baseball Players Association; the Marlins; the Orioles; the Marlins’ weekend opponent, the Phillies; and Club medical staffs, and will continue to provide updates as appropriate.
8:12am: The Marlins had four players test positive for COVID-19 over the weekend, and ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports this morning that an additional eight players and two coaches have since tested positive (Twitter link). Tonight’s scheduled home opener against the Orioles has been canceled, tweets Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. ESPN’s Jesse Rogers tweets that not all of the new cases are asymptomatic.
The Marlins remain in Philadelphia and won’t be traveling back to Miami as had been previously scheduled, per Sportsgrid’s Craig Mish (Twitter links). In the span of one weekend, the Marlins have now seen a dozen players and two coaches test positive. More troubling, perhaps, is that Mish emphasizes that Marlins players and coaching staff have been adhering to the league’s health and safety protocols.
It’s alarming, too, that Rosenthal and colleague Jayson Stark report (subscription link) that yesterday’s Marlins/Phillies game was played after three players tested positive. That brought the Marlins’ total known positive tests to seven, and a day later it appears that figure has doubled. Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas and manager Don Mattingly said that the team was unified in its decision to play. Rosenthal and Stark add that the league conducted contact tracing and tested the remainder of the roster and staff, with all beyond the initial seven coming back negative.
The implications here, of course, are broad-reaching. The Phillies just shared the field with the Marlins for their opening three-game series, which will undoubtedly prompt concerns among Phillies players and staff. The Yankees, meanwhile, had been scheduled to travel to Philadelphia to set up shop in the same visiting clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park that was just home to 14 positive cases. Ramifications beyond the immediate circle of baseball employees exist as well, of course. The Marlins have been staying at a hotel in Philadelphia over the weekend, which means staff on hand there has likely been exposed as well.
The Yankees, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter links), aren’t staying at the same hotel the Marlins used. They’ve also brought in their own clubhouse staff rather than work with the Phillies’ visiting clubhouse staff. They might’ve chosen to do so anyway, but The Athletic’s Matt Gelb tweets that the Phillies have quarantined their entire visiting clubhouse staff while awaiting test results. There’s been no definitive word on whether tonight’s game between the Yankees and Phillies will even take place, but it’s certainly possible it’ll be postponed or canceled as well.
Uh oh
Hopefully none will get seriously ill. That said, this sadly might be the start of the end. Hope I’m wrong.
It’s under control from reliable Mlb source .. this is not the end
Manfred? 😉
How can anyone possibly know that? Infections take time. The Phillies may be infected. They could be passing it to the Yankees tonight. Nothing is under control.
Yeah. “Totally” under control. Smh.
Under control? This is almost a full third of an entire team. That’s about as far from “under control” as you can get in one go.
I’ll screenshot this and be back later
That’s not really how Coronavirus works. The Phillies would have gotten infected possibly Friday. They won’t be spreading it around 4 days later. Sometime this week though? Sure.
In any other logical scenario a business where employees tested positive would shut down and everyone who had contact with the infected would self-quarantine and test. So the Phillies shouldn’t be coming into contact with ANYONE else other teams or people in their community.
If players can’t go two months without “socializing” it’s never going to be under control.
It’s up to the players if it is going to be under control.
Apparently the Marlins followed protocols. So one was “socializing.”
All it takes is one. Could you imagine Mickey Mantle or Babe Ruth sequestering for two to three months?
It is what 20 something year olds do. Now that they have seen what can happen, maybe they’ll be more careful.
One can hope.
Too much assumption here. There’s no reason to believe anyone did anything irresponsible. This virus is insane.
Too much assumption on your part also. All it takes is one. NBA is supposed to have a bubble and Lou Williams was caught at the strip club with a mask handed to him by the NBA recently.
There is EVERY reason rich, young athletes did something they shouldn’t have. You expect it.
@Halo11fan – Good to know you’re intimately familiar with all these players’ intimate relations.
That or you’re just assuming, and we know where that leads.
Or Ty Cobb
Evidently they were not wearing masks when they went out after the games. If they were 11 players would not be affected.
Unless you are wearing a legit N95 mask, your mask is not protecting you from anything, The only thing the mask that most of us, including me, are wearing are wearing is to minimize the spray of a sneeze or other emission of body fluids into the area around us. The will not prevent you from emitting the virus into the area surrounding you nor will it protect you from the virus from being inhaled by you if you are near someone who just sneezed who has the virus. Cloth or the basic surgical masks will not prevent you from contracting the virus.
Even an N95 mask only blocks 95% of certain-sized particles. The volume of virus exposure matters. Masks all help to varying degrees; certainly the surgical or cotton ones are far from hard barriers.
Yes. masks help but contrary to popular belief, they are not the beat all get all to the fight against Covid-19 or any airborne virus. My wife was diagnosed with cancer a few years back. Had major surgery. We were told that any infection could kill her because of her weakened condition. Never scrubbed so much in my life. Constantly washing my hands and using hand sanitizers work to prevent illnesses. Never eveh had so much as a cold for the two years that I had to scrub like I do now. That is everyone’s best bet. People go nuts about the masks but they are only a small part of the puzzle. They help but good sanitary habits are far more effective.
I literally have never heard anyone claim masks are “the beat all get all to the fight against Covid-19.” I don’t think this is the popular belief. Masks are part of the fight, but only part.
MLBPA holding call with player reps at 12pm talk is they may pull players off the field. Do to brake down in testing
It’s not a break down in testing. It’s a breakdown of players not understanding what can happen.
Anyway, the schedule was far too ambitious. Players should be playing five game series and with two ‘off days’ a week. There needed to be built in fire breaks. But the players wanted as many games as possible. And of course the players can’t go two months without “fraternizing”.
But somehow it’s the owners fault.
They tried to curb spitting. Yet, Matt Olsen’s game ending grand slam showed how hard it is to break from traditions. Whole team crowded at home plate, most with no facial protection. I’ve been skeptical all along, but that sent shivers down my spine. Got to get this figured out better.
Also, how about the Cubs-Brewers fiasco? The first thing I thought when that played out was “win the battle to
lose the war” because nobody was saying, “let’s not fight when we all can get infected.”
Shivers down your spine? You’ve lived an easy life it this bothers you that much.
Players need to go home or straight to the hotel after the games no socializing this is what happens.
Oh no, worst fears are realized
Playing the game against Philly was sooooo dumb and irresponsible.
Phillies should prob postpone/cancel their game today too
True
If you go by Coronavirus testing/quarantine recommendations the Phillies should now all be self-quarantining because of being in contact with people who tested positive.
Sports should not be exempt from common sense guidelines on Coronavirus
I mean I think the entire MLB season is predicated on the notion that the general covid-19 regulations don’t apply to MLB players/personnel.
I guess that’s what the “player pool” was for… but, man, that’s awful. 13% of the pool is out!
No Bueno
Not a good sign of where this season might be headed. Best of health to the Marlins organization. Hope they all get well soon and they can resume their season.
How long before the season gets canceled?
It should be immediate considering that it was less infections in the first NBA locker room that triggered every sport to shut down. But people have loss their minds thinking that everything we’re used to doing and having takes priority over what Mother Nature is telling us. Many is great, but nature always proves to be greater. We can do without a year of sports if it expedites getting a handle on this pandemic.
Wait. I misread. Sorry. 20%. I apologize.
That’s why they have 60-man rosters. Just call up 12 new guys and get back on the field. MLB knew this might happen and plan was to power through, so just stick to the plan.
I really hope that’s sarcasm
It was bound to happen.
Wow – couldn’t even make it through the first weekend of games. Not good. Hoping those impacted have a speedy recovery.
Me too. Luckily, many of them showed zero symptoms.
Should have canceled the season but money was more important
yet basically everyone involved was fine with it, because if they werent they would have all opted out. enough of this. if they want to play that should be their choice.
FREEDUMB!!!!!!
It’s not just about the players and what they chose to do. What about the hotel staff and everyone else that came into contact with them who is now in danger due to the players’ choice? They’re just doing their jobs. Very short-sighted and selfish comment, my dude. But that’s pretty on brand for you
This is a pandemic. Not flu season. Grow a heart, please.
And players should be avoiding hotel staff, but since when do 20 something year olds have any self control.
If you ask these guys to go too months without “hookups” or go two months without baseball, what do you think they would choose?
They think they can do both… they can’t.
This isn’t flu season.
Wow. Wake up call for the league and fans. What happens next?
I did not see this coming. Let’s hope this does NOT cancel every game today.
this only directly affects the MIA and PHI games, and its very possible the Phillies might not even be cancelled if therf is
*if there is reason to believe the transmission eas mostly limited to dugout, lockerroom, etc interactions.
Good points. They need to quarantine the umpires though. They shouldn’t work another series until it’s clear they aren’t positive for the virus.
A case for eliminating umpires. The crew doing the Cubs-Brewer series this weekend, was horrible behind the plate.
Except the Marlins were playing the Braves within the incubation period and the Braves have subsequently played the Mets. Add to that that the Braves and Marlins each had games with the Rays and Orioles respectively today, meaning you’re looking at four teams that could’ve been exposed by now.
i mean its possible that they were dealing with this before, but that’s hardly conclusive
And wear a mask!
This means the Phillies can’t logically play tonight either right? Wish for a healthy and speedy recovery for the players affected.
Agreed. Phillies should postpone their game and test everybody. If they have to play a doubleheader or even two, so be it.
Yeah double header Wednesday after they get the tests back to know who has it
…and Tuesday more players test positive, Wednesday, Thursday, etc.
That’s how this is going go. The Reds are next, then possibly the Royals as both teams are testing positive. Then add all the teams who worked out in Florida like Phils and Braves.
They just need to stop this season now before these cases affect schools opening (due to increasing numbers) and businesses need to shutter again.
Lol you think a handful of MLB players testing positive would affect whether or not schools open? Every single player could test positive and it wouldn’t affect whether or not schools open. Four times as many people are testing positive in Florida everyday then the total number of players in the league.
Disinformation.
I absolutely think this could effect schools and college sessions. You think the hotel staff didn’t go back to their families and stores and infect others who LIVE in these areas? How about any other people who were also staying at these hotels? How about airline workers?
Do people not understand just how close this country is to a massive, nationwide shut down? Schools and colleges reopening will depend on whether or not case counts are increasing or decreasing within each school district. You don’t think hotel workers have kids under age 23 living at home?
The problem is, the Phillies will likely test negative now. We won’t know for a few days. It’s a mess.
Yep. Which means you should be testing pretty much everyone the Marlins played within the potential incubation period (So the Braves too) and anyone any of those teams has encountered in that time. There’s a very good chance this gets worse.
Chances are, these players contracted Covid while still in spring training in Florida. Anyone playing the Marlins or who stayed in hotels the last week of ST in that area is probably carrying this around right now.
Mlb could implement mask usage. I imagine, a simple mask could have prevented this.
Should they wear masks? Yes, but let’s not act like masks are the Great Wall of China preventing anything from getting past.
Masks are to prevent the wearer from spreading germs, not so much from shielding you from others – unless you’re wearing a medical-grade mask.
Correct, but if the infected were wearing masks, maybe we would have had 1 player test positive instead of 8+. It should be a rule.
i imagine that was something the PA negotiated, for it to be a recommendation but not a rule. really, i cant imagine playing baseball with a mask on is easy, though i dont see why at least guys occupying the same base dont do it.
Exactly, if these asymptomatic players were wearing masks there would have been less probability of it being spread to the other players/coaches. Instead they didn’t wear a mask because they didn’t feel sick, and now they’ve unknowingly spread the disease
The mask wearing right now isn’t helping any of the players. They are constantly taking them off and putting them in their pockets. Most players are wearing them under their nose. I don’t get why wearing a mask properly is so difficult.
They should wear biohazard suits to play games.
LOL! Actually, make them wear “Bubble Boy” suits like in the movie. Would at least make the games entertaining. on a different level Football in those kind of suits would be absolutely hysterical!
This is awful and incidents like this could kill the season, but isn’t this the purpose of having a player pool at an alternate location? Can MLB (and MLBPA) approve on a case by case basis teams using their alternate player pool to field a team if the active team can’t travel due to such an outbreak?
They’re saying that may have gotten it in ATL during an exhibition, with MIA getting close to, if not the epicenter of cases in FL. Would be interesting if they consider moving them out, even temporarily, for home games to lessen the risk. Admittedly, though, wondering if that would be too much.
Is that implying they got it from the Braves, or just while they were in Atlanta?
I’m not implying, but the implication is there. Looking back at the reports in AJC, they were stating an implication that Mattingly did not continue with, fwiw.
Idk how people can blame the Braves though if none of them test positive and as far as I know, none have.
Probably even before Atlanta. The virus can fester and be transmitted up to 14 days prior to testing positive. It was most likely contracted before teams ever left Florida. Look at the Phils, Braves and Nationals.
In fairness, the rapid test only has a 50% accuracy rate and the longer test is more like 70%. There’s a non-zero chance that one of the Braves has it.
But there’s also hotel staff to consider. They’re not required to quarantine for all of this.
Wait a minute, I suppose all the teams are going through rigorous testing, but if the Miami players and staff contracted it while scrimmaging in Atlanta, you would think the Braves would be at risk and by extension the Mets who just played them in a three game series. I know the Mets took a bus ride up to Boston after the game.
Move their games to a neutral stadium where the City has very few cases not Miami
Problem is many teams used up their pool with high end prospects still in the lower minors, so they can get exposure to major leaguers (ie Joey Bart). We’ll see what they do.
ATL is already experiencing that weirdness with thrusting C William Contreras into games as a backup when Flowers/d’Arnaud hit the IL. Jackson started the first 2 games, with Contreras coming in at the end of the 2nd and getting a big hit, while starting the next day: Sunday. He’d only seen AA, which is significant, while spending ST and summer camp with the staff. I can’t imagine under any other circumstance he’d have seen the field in 2020, but hopefully he runs with the opportunity considering he’s already got 4 hits in 2 games.
His double was pretty clutch, but two of his hits Sunday were just flares. He looks like he could be a solid catcher in a couple of years, needs some work calling pitches and framing though. Newcomb kept throwing fastballs early in the count and getting behind 2-0 then he’d come back with a change up for a strike, not sure why they didn’t go more offspeed since Newcomb couldn’t locate his fastball.
and that has predictably gone bad. its almost like they could have just had their proepcts work out on their own…
If positive tests is the standard for cancelling things we might as well close sports now. Baseball is nothing compared to football. No way can you play a football season with that many players in close contact.
The show must go on. I don’t deny the severity of it, but we knew this may happen. If these were Walmart employees, the store would have remained open for business.
No, the business actually would have been shut down for a deep cleaning (I believe a minimum of 72 hours) and employees contacted quarantined for two weeks.
There is no minimum for closures. Trust me, I’m 100 percent certain. No 2 week quarantines either. They were recommending 2 week quarantines due to a lack of testing.
and i think the thing about the players needing to be quarantined may or may not be correct, or may be purely related to the travel component.
It’s different from state to state in regard to closing. If an Amazon warehouse or Wal-Mart has 30% if its employees test positive in 48 hours, they aren’t staying open.
Walmart employees don’t travel to other Walmarts and mingle with employees from those stores for 3 days. This analogy makes no sense.
What part doesn’t make sense to you?
Baseball isn’t an essential industry.
It was in WWII.
Whelp, there goes my World Series wager. Dammit Marlins!
And people still think teams and fans are overeating
If they do overeat, they are more likely to experience more severe symptoms.
Well, under eating probably wouldn’t be a good thing to do either in a pandemic. The perfect catch-22……to eat or not to eat.
The Panda may be overeating.
well this is great. of corse it was the Marlins too.
They just didn’t want to play the onrushng jaguernot Orioles.
Um, the Marlins were ready for the World Series preview with the O’s.
Cancel the season. Stupid idea to 1) even have it and 2) travel around the country while doing it.
Baseball is not going to cancel their season, its a sport more popular than most any other
The post says the Marlins had been following the leagues health and safety protocols. I’m skeptical. I watched several games over the weekend, though not the Marlins, and there was plenty of visual evidence that players weren’t adhering to regulations: players standing shoulder to shoulder along the dugout rail, spitting in close proximity, many with no masks, players in the stands near the dugout seated too close together, and so on. I don’t fault them for any of this, but simply observe that in practice important aspects of those protocols are honored in the breach. And despite the attention and care that the league and teams have devoted the problem in all its complexity, the surge of infections among the Marlins seems to prove the truth of the claim that gatherings of large groups of people are likely to spread the disease like wildfire.
Even Dr. Fauci wasn’t following protocol when he was at the Nats game. Sitting shoulder to shoulder and not wearing his mask at all times.
Those may have been people he’s already living with. Could have been family members.
Doesn’t matter, he’s with a group in public. He needs to practice what he preaches or shut up.
Every single team was spitting. I can tell you that. You obviously can’t regulate that.
“More troubling, perhaps, is that Mish emphasizes that Marlins players and personnel have been adhering to the league’s health and safety protocols.”
Either someone is lying or…shocker, the health and safety protocols weren’t sufficient from the beginning. Every other sport has a bubble…baseball has expanded rosters. That tells you everything you need to know.
Shameful.
Sorry I wouldn’t have posted had I seen your comment… Your right…
you cant have a bubble for baseball, its not conducive to that, and if you cant have a bubble you need to have extra guys in hand to fill in in case if issues. quite frankly, it shouldnt be on the safety protocols. no matter how many you have, the players have a responsibility to limit their chances of getting the virus from an outside source. as ive said before, its not a bubble, but you can still exersize more caution. ive not been doing a lot different than usual, but ive still probably been limiting my potential exposure beyond just using a mask. that’s all these guys need to do, just exersize a tad more caution then they would prefer to nromally.
Mattingly said complying with the protocols was going to be difficult. I think this shows they were too difficult for the Marlins to follow.
The story were getting from the Marlins players doesn’t add up… If their staying in the bubble and adhering to protocols the virus was virtually non-extent from MLB testing. The last published testing data on Friday had a positivity rate of around 0.0007%.. The story here is the players were not staying in the bubble..
I don’t think that’s really the story.
When your national response to COVID is terrible and grossly incompetent, it will find a way to infiltrate sports bubbles.
MLB needs to put in more strict rules and policies. I’ve only watched a few games since the season started, but I’m seeing players with no masks, people still high fiving after home runs or at end of the game. People still crammed in the dugout (not socially distanced). Hate to say it but I’m not surprised. I would bet the season is cancelled by 4pm today.
I’ll take that bet!
I don’t know why the Marlins played yesterday either especially since the Phillies took the day off 🙂
A guy on twitter answered that very question by saying “ummm, because all the other players tested negative?”
Another person responded and told him “test results are always a day behind. Let’s see how many test positive today.”
That’s what is so odd. Up here in NYC, there’s many locations that can get you test results most days in 5 hours…5 hours, folks. They’re not expensive and yet MLB’s is still at least 1 day behind…? I know there’s a lot of coordinating going on across the country, but I’m shocked that NYC has actually gotten something right.
Nah. The only stopped playing when they had the bases loaded. 3 innings in a row left the bases loaded. That’s hard to do.
The problem isn’t the positive tests. It’s what that MEANS. If an outbreak occurs on one team, and they do nothing, it could spread like wildfire. If 75% of players wind up getting the virus, that’s nearly 1500 people.
At those numbers, you’re almost guaranteed to have a few dozen that get very bad symptoms, and probably quite a few hospitalizations.
And at that point, you risk a player ending their career because of long term effects, if not an actual player death.
And this is a shock to anyone, why?
May as well trace back two weeks and get ready to see spikes from everyone, everywhere, that Marlins’ personnel have been in contact with. Then everyone THOSE people were in contact with, and so on. How long before these players say, “Forget it.”
Can’t say this often enough: NO ONE is immune from infecting others, regardless of whether they become ill or not.
Sports are going to contribute to schools, colleges, businesses, etc to remain close or be reclosed. Remember Covid case totals are based upon an individual’s home address, not where they work or play. Professional athletes are going to leave a trail of C-19 infections weeks behind them in the cities they travel to and from.
Baseball players will survive (financially), but how about all those workers, students and businesses that may not?
are you suggesting that the numbers from players will skew re-openings? you do realize that baseball players only make up a small fraction of the US population, and a decent number of MLB players dont even live here so by the same token may not even factor into those numbers? i dont think that is a fair critique.
Yes, this will definitely impact the reopening of schools because it is a very public example of how easily this virus spreads among groups, even when precautions are taken. Everyone is watching. If they have to throw in the towel on the season or if a professional athlete gets hospitalized or worse, there is no way it can be justifiable to open schools. And it will prove that football is impossible.
there is no comparison between sports and schools. you can much more easily wear a mask while sitting in a school room then while doing physical activity. kids in schools can be more easily distanced by keepimg desks apart, while sports players move around. additionally, these people should know what they are doing already, and if they are really taking notes from sports on how to repoen then they might need to find better careers.
…and every k-12 child will always social distance, wash his hands and not touch anything for 6 hours before going home to his family.
Some people just refuse to see the big picture. Or maybe they just aren’t intelligent enough to do so.
Thanks Jim. I have taught 6th grade middle school kids and they are so reactionary. It is impossible to keep them socially distanced. They act before they think and you are assuming they will make the right choices when they do think first. Many have issues with hygiene that make me concerned even in non-pandemic times.
It’s a shock to some people, but mostly the people who thought COVID wasn’t a big deal. Wait until one group (such as baseball player) gets a huge outbreak, and some player winds up on a ventilator.
You don’t see it now, because positives are still a low percentage. But if an outbreak occurs, and 1500 players and coaches get it, you are guaranteed to see hospitalizations and maybe even deaths.
Everybody needs to relax. These guys might be asymptomatic, might not even be in that bad of shape. We can’t live the rest of our lives in fear, obviously we want to be safe, but we can’t sit inside forever
to be fair, it was noted that some were symptomatic.
I don’t think it’s about living your life in fear – it’s that people think we have some necessity to watch baseball because we are bored or the idea that we can’t stay inside forever. You wouldn’t have to stay inside forever if protocols were followed. But they aren’t often followed because “we can’t live in fear”. So you are caught in a loop where COVID just continues to thrive.
Many places are not staying inside but don’t have such outbreaks because they have competent leadership and clear protocols
The article happens to mention that a few of the positive cases are having symptoms. Yes, the players are young and in very good shape and will probably be OK. But some earlier case like Freddie Freeman and Rodriquez reported being put through a ringer. The main thing is who else they could infect.
150, ooo Americans have already died. This pandemic is a serious matter for good reason.
Yeah, but more people die every year from [insert cause of death that could also be substantially minimized if we prioritized public health and/or safety over profit], so this isn’t a big deal.
I know! We could all quit smoking and drinking and save hundreds of thousands…. ooops, I was being sarcastic.
Relax? This must be your first time here on this crazy comment section. These people are the most gullible credulous souls you’ll ever encounter.
Wow you mean the players from Miami, currently a hot spot, and has been some some time, tested positive? Wow huge shocker no one saw that coming…
What could go wrong with the Phillies and Yankees playing? It’s not like anything has happened in those two cities in recent months. Oh, wait…
Facepalm
This outcome was so blatantly obvious. Really sucks but it was inevitable that this would happen
The way they hit yesterday, maybe they are on to something!
I realize the potential seriousness of the situation, by the way.
It was reported here yesterday the original 4 Marlins would quarantine at the hotel for 2 weeks.
What happens now to the new players and coaches? 2 weeks is 20% of the season. What other MLB teams would stay at that hotel now, or use the visitor’s locker rooms?
i mean its not like the city doesnt have any other hotels, or that they arent likely sanitizing the locker rooms right now.
I bet the hotel staff is thrilled knowing their workplace is now an active quarantine zone. I wonder how safe THEY feel?
This is far from the most important issue- but I wonder what MLB plan would be if a team has to cancel two, three, or even four, games? The Orioles and Marlins won’t be contenders, so I assume they’d just axe them from the schedule. Hypothetically though, what if these games had playoff implications?
Or 2 weeks of games if an entire team – Marlins – need to quarantine?
youre gonna have to play with the team you have. that has always been a known risk, and that’s how its going to go. does it suck? yeah, but what doesn’t this year.
The orioles are 2-1 buddy!
With 16 teams getting in; who the hell knows! But in all seriousness, you can’t just axe the games from teams because you believe they won’t be a contender. Particularly so when they let in 16 teams. You certainly can’t do that in week two. Maybe they can get away with cancelling them if the Orioles and Marlins are 10-35 at some point. But I would imagine that they’ll have to get these played at some point as it stands today.
Just want to point out that the Marlins and Orioles are both contenders right now. It’s 60 games. They’re both 2 and 1.
“Let’s take a team from a hotspot and allow them to travel!”
Makes the Canadian decision to not allow The Jays to travel in and out of the country look even smarter.
again, that sentiment makes sense in theory, but you cant just move every hot spot team, because youre going to have to then adjust as hotspots change. that’s a mess and probably unviable.
Whether it’s a hotspot or not; it really doesn’t matter. The virus is everywhere. If players are going out into these cities to play around the risk is there. It only takes 1 person to get it and then the spread could get exponential from there.
yes but i was responding to a comment that specifically mentioned hot spots.
phils should play in Reading while they deep clean their MLB stadium
A lot of that city needs a deep cleaning
I don’t think any team sport that isn’t in a bubble will make it. No MLB, no NFL, no college sports.
Don’t forget the NBA, they’ve got guys going to strip clubs among other things.
How about MLS,WNBA,NHL to?
MLS currently is in a bubble in Disney, running next to the NBA at the same sports facility.
How much longer will this farce go on? Cancel the damn season.
until the players and owners agree to do it, and given how few opted out, i think that’s very unlikely unless things really get out of hand.
If something Marlin-esque happens to the Yankees or Dodgers, THEN you’ll see drastic action.
maybe, maybe not
I give the season a week, just hope no big name gets hurt like verlander did….
Extra fact, when the marlins won on opening day, its the 1st time in their history that they were ever in 1st place in the month of july
But I thought it was a hoax?
This was inevitable. And it’s the beginning of the end, or should be. No, there’s no reason to think this particular outbreak will go beyond the Marlins and maybe the Phillies. But there’s absolutely no reason to think there won’t be outbreaks just like this one in every team eventually, cancelling games left and right. This isn’t tenable. Never was. Never could’ve been.
Mask up ALL players or shut down
How does the 60 man player pool work with the 40 man roster? For example if they end up with 10+ guys out and need to replenish from their 60 man pool, but have to call up a bunch of players not on the 40 man, how do they create space for the new players? Also do they have to DFA some of those guys when the starters return?
I understand this is why they have those players working out at an alternate location, but if so many players are sick that it wrecks a team’s 40 man roster situation, that would be a huge burden to bear.
What Mlb hasn’t reported yet is the home plate umpire in the Atlanta/miami pre season game tested positive for covid. Their protocols leave quite a bit to be desired. Manfred is easily the biggest idiot in professional sports and I put all the blame on him. How can you hide that information? Wishing all players involved a speedy recovery and return to the field
I like the NC Dinos chances this year.
There is a third choice besides just shutting everything down and pretending nothing is wrong as a form of pseudo-bravado.
Be smart.
The only sport that might work without a bubble is the NFL. But, MLB ignored the obvious.
Curious, why would the NFL work without a bubble?
That seems pretty foolish to suggest the NFL would work without a bubble. When the players literally sweat and breathe on each other on every single play. The NFL might not work with a bubble.
Because travel and time spent in other cities is very limited in the NFL.
The “bubble” concept still needs to be employed at the NFL teams facilities, players have to stay home, etc. but a hub city would actually backfire on football.
Having all the players in one spot (or two spots) all week every week would increase the exposure for football instead of teams being isolated at their own facilities, with their private travel and only spending one and a half days in a road city each time.
The other sports need(ed) bubbles because of how many more games they play and to limit travel, etc.
The NFL only plays once a week, so one way they could make it work without a bubble would be to re-arrange the schedule so each team plays each other 2 weeks in a row, then has a week off, then plays another team 2 weeks in a row, etc. That way, the 2 teams playing are quarantined in the same bubble for a 2 week period, and the teams would have a new 2 week quarantine period (the off week + the week before the game) before playing against a new team.
It would require the schedule being extended like 6 extra weeks (because teams have only 1 bye week on the normal schedule), and would probably mean just play division rivals 4 times and then play 2 other teams twice or something (which would have competitive balance impacts), but could at least be done very safely.
NFL players are not going to make it work. Sorry, do you think they can go an entire season without “fraternizing”.
The only way this works is if players have self control.
Doubtful NFL would work any better or worse. Besides, bubbles have been known to burst when an athlete decides to be selfish.
Yeah, it’s hard for me to condemn or condone the bubble strategy- because it’s only effective if those involved abide by it. Lou Williams, in the NBA, being a perfect example of why it’s so hard to implement.
The bubble concept would isolate it to one city, but then on the flip side how many more teams would’ve quickly been exposed?
If they’re playing, the answers aren’t easy.
You just have to implement severe penalties for violating the bubble rules so that players aren’t willing to risk it. If the consequence for violating the bubble was suspension for the rest of the season, plus having your complete contract voided, would anyone actually do it?
Someone on the tram screwed up. Put the rest of the team and their opponent at-risk. The night life is terrific in South Beach but couldn’t these guys just cool it for one summer?
Marlins should move to Wyoming for this year
Some have enough money to fly some women in, get them into the bubble and potentially spread it again. In Wyoming. Boys will be boys.
The Marlins haven’t been in Florida for over a week. They were in Atlanta and then went to Philly.
I’ve been saying since they announced a return that baseball needed to have Hub Cities, almost like a bubble that the NBA and NHL have. Unfortunately for baseball, they need as many stadiums as possible (Minimum of 15 per day) to keep games moving because of the possibility of long extra inning games.
I thought doing 3 Hub Cities (1 for each of the regions, East, Central and West) would be most beneficial. Without fans, minor league parks can be used, especially with no minor league season this year. The issue MLB will have is the travel to and from higher infected states, such as Florida, Georgia, Texas, etc. Had they said “alright, the NL/AL East will play all games in New York, NL/AL Central all games in Chicago, NL/AL West all games in Los Angeles” or something like that, this may have been avoided because travel wouldn’t be a concern.
East Teams in Ohio,Midwest Teams in KC,West Teams in Las Vegas and South Teams in New Orleans and 4 Northcentral Teams in Minnesota.
Cancel the season. This isn’t baseball anyway. The little league extra innings rule is so bad. I’m turning off any game that goes into extras now.
I’ve enjoyed watching the games, even if it’s always the Cubs because that’s all ESPN seems to show around here until around midnight,
Should Mattingly be given severe consequences by MLB for trying to force the Saturday game through, basically causing this issue to mushroom into a total crisis? I feel what he did is as bad as what got Cora and Hinch suspended in terms of impact on the game and he should probably be strung out.
At what point is Manfred at risk of being ousted over the catastrophic handling of this season – and it wasn’t just the restart plan being botched, it was also the unseemly fight with the union over it all as well?
At the end of the day thats on the MLB, not Don Mattingly. The league is the one who ultimately allowed them to play after the positive tests. Its not like Mattingly broke a rule prohibiting them from playing the game or did something nefarious, he just did his job.
Its his job to manage the team, and I think its inevitable that even with positive tests he’s going to try to keep pushing forward within the established safety protocols and rules and will try to keep playing the games. The league office and MLB as an organization needs to be the one who steps up and ensures that actions are taken for the safety of everyone involved in a situation like this.
This is a point most of the commenters have missed: Mattingly, Miami players, and presumably their front office played a game AFTER KNOWING some of the players had tested positive.
If I were Manfred, I would fine them definitely, briefly suspend management probably, and maybe declare “forfeited” the postponed games.
Many businesses such as offices and factories are still working everyday and have been since this whole bruhaha started.
They seem to be getting by just fine.
I know, as I have been working everyday through this. My company isn’t having any problems keeping people from getting sick.
I deal with many other firms and companies daily, and they aren’t having any problems keeping people healthy either.
I’m sure baseball can keep everything under control as well.
Henry you’re hired as a risk management consultant for MLB. Please guide them on safety protocol indefinitely.
I bet the employees you deal with don’t have the egos of invincible, rules don’t apply to me multi-millionaire athletes.
Are you traveling from city to city and interacting with 20+ people in locker rooms?
How’s that working out for baseball right now?
Hope they all have little to no symptoms and can beat this thing quick. That being said, even with a lot of people sick on their team they still beat the Phillies.
Florida gotta mess things up for everyone…It was a nice three day run. See y’all next season.
I wouldn’t call it a nice run. Have you seen a game go to extras? Little league stuff
ALL Marlin games should canceled.
Takeaways from the weekend:
– The A.L West has cursed pitchers
– Brady Singer might quietly be a ROY candidate
– Globe Life Field is NOT a hitter’s park
– Giancarlo Stanton is Giancarlo Stanton
– The Mets realized that replacing Syndergaard and Wheeler is really hard
– Luis Robert is a five tool player
– Any pride the Red Sox had has been long gone
– The Marlins and Phillies are finding new and improved ways to be dissapointing
(Seriously, prayers up the Marlins and Phillies players who caught the virus. This virus is bipolar, it was easy to deal with for Brett Martin, despite his Type 1 diabetes, but for Freddie Freeman it was terrible. Everybody needs to be careful right now. Best of luck to all of them.)
My takeaways:
1. The Twins can still hit and their defense has improved..
2. The White Sox have some talent but no chemistry or heart,
3. The Indians will still be tough.
4. The Mets and Phillies (poor Girardi) are going to be a mess.
5. If the Dodgers ever learn to play together, they will be invincible.
6. Cruz is still amazing at 40 years old.
7. ESPN has an awful collection of announcers–Kurkjian, A-Rod and the nameless others are terrible.
I want A-Rod’s group to win the Mets bid just so he won’t be in the broadcast booth.
Just play ball. This is unfortanate. But no player has gotten really ill so far. I am not saying the virus is not real but is not as dangerous is treatable and lets just play ball. What is next live in a bubble. And to all the fear and dramatic mongers here just calm down. Lets finish the season and stop making drama.
Tell that to my dead neighbor and her mom-less kids.
Let ‘er rip!
Well E-Rod has an enlarged heart from Corona so I would count that as being ill. No telling when he’ll be ready to pitch again.
Yes, he’s ill. And it’s also a minor condition. It is the heart. That’s always a concern, but they also said it was minor.
Eduardo Rodriguez isn’t a ball player?
Some liked this pile of rubbish of a comment?
this lays a fat behind on the commish’s face!
This has nothing to do with the commissioner. The players wanted more games. The players wanted fewer off-days. The players are the ones that are careless.
They are kids with the self control of bunny rabbits. Bad things happens to players who show no wisdom all the time.
they could have started the season in may or june. he played tricks to delay the start of the season to force players to accept 60 games only to pay less. we are right in the upswing of infections and who knows how many more will be infected.
As I predicted, the season won’t last more than a few games. Get ready for it all to be canceled. It was ridiculous to think this wouldn’t happen. Hope doesn’t cure viruses. Neither does greed.
True true
I heard sunlight does. Maybe they should only play day games.
The season won’t be cancelled. If the Blue Jays leave Tampa Bay without any infections, then they have what it takes to make it to the World Series (albeit, through attrition). It’s just a matter of waiting to see what team of AA players they will face.
Anything short of season cancelation will be rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Stay safe, shut down. ✌️
So you’re saying the Orioles have a chance?
Don’t care what the Marlins say, someone was not following the health and safety protocols. It just takes one.
Impressive that the Fish prevailed in the midst of the outbreak. Rekindles memories of other players performing well while under the influence: your Dock Ellises and Keith Hernandii.
I’m just here to get the inside scoop since everyone here is a COVID expert…….
Suddenly, it appears keeping MLB out of Canada is looking better all the time. MLB needed to go into a multiple bubble arrangement like the NHL. Way too many variables as things stand now.
It will take 1-2 more major team outbreaks before they cancel the season. I know it sounds stupid but the players, owners and MLB have invested too much to stop the season now. They’re going to want to press on, but it seems inevitable that the season will get cancelled with all of this travel. They should have moved forward with the “bubble” plan.
Also wonder if this recent Marlins outbreak will be a wake up call to some of the starts in the league and they announce today or tomorrow that they are opting out. If Trout, Mookie, Verlander, Cole, Yelich, etc.. decide to opt out, MLB may be forced to shut the whole thing down.
So what’s the point of the 30 man taxi squad again? Cause now the reason for it has presented itself.
“some of the team’s more notable players are among the positive group” wait, the marlins have notable players?
Three or four.
I can’t wait till the elections are over so this pandemic can end
Somebody said the virus would just disappear one day when the weather got warm. I don’t recall who. Boy was he wrong!
Mugatu, it’s cute that you say this but I bet you don’t have the intellectual honesty to confront yourself and your flawed views by admitting you are wrong when this pandemic does NOT end. Or if it continues will you actually admit that this virus is not being used as a political weapon by the left?
When I read the article I don’t see anything about violating social rules but it does seem like a logical assumption. Players following social standards reminds me of time I spent in the U.S. ARMY. We travelled on plenty of busses and to be sure everyone was accounted for, we would count off front to back before we left and after got there while still on the buss.
Sixty soldiers counting off 1-60 sounds easy enough right? It never worked the first time and usually not the second either. Out of 60 soldiers, what are the odds just a few of them aren’t paying attention, doesn’t track who’s turn it is correctly or whatever is going to screw it all up? Pretty good actually.
This isn’t all that different. We have several hundred players that all have to follow the rules and if just ONE doesn’t, it may throw a monkey wrench in the entire operation. What are the chances just ONE screws up? Pretty good, right?
Why would they cancel the games? I don’t get it. Everyone is fine
Shut it down
I’m thinking that for this to work in the long run, they should consider changing the 40 man roster to 60. If a team has an outbreak like the Marlins did, trying to manage the 40 man roster without having to expose players to waivers it rough. Let them have this year as a 60 man, so you don’t have to chance losing players moving them back and forth between active and taxi.
Where the players are going off the field is what I want to know.
We’ll soon be back watching KBO again, after MLB shuts down (and NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS, etc.).
NHL has 0 positive tests are in a bubble. NBA in theory should be okay if the players stick to the bubble but unfortunately the players are stupid. Ordering takeout into the bubble.NBA MLB and NFL are three of the most racist leagues in the world. The reason the NHL is able to do well is the fact you have over 20 countries in the league who understand what they have to do.
This can’t be shocking to anyone really. If multiple teams have this at or around the same time, then the season is in jeopardy. If not, it will go on. Too much $$$ invested in this from both the owners and players. Just stating how it is.
Drat!! And I wanted too see if the Marlins drew more cardboard cut outs for their opener than the Rays did.
MLS currently is in a bubble in Disney, running next to the NBA at the same sports facility.
I bet the Yankees can’t wait to settle into the Phil’s visiting clubhouse.
I see all the hi-fives and maskless interactions between players, coaches and umpires and know that in just a few days, this season will be over. The wave of positive tests due to not practicing recommended guidelines will require this. Theses guys in the prime of life for the most part believe they are bullet-proof. Believe the science. The virus doesn’t care what you believe.
And Wear A GD Mask!
“Mish adds that some of the team’s more notable players are among the positive group.”
I was unaware the Marlins had any notable players.
It’s sad that anyone would openly admit to this. It’s essentially admitting that you don’t know baseball as much as you think you do because you aren’t aware of what other teams have. I guess you’re the guy that is “surprised” when a team that has been rebuilding for a few years starts winning again, or you “never realized how good [fill in the name]” was until he left a small market team for a big market team. I guess you’d be shocked to know that there are more teams other than the Yankees and Red Sox. Must suck to only watch E!SPN and FOX Sports.
It’s not my fault that you choose to be a fan of a team that trades away any player as soon as they make a name for themselves. And I have ABSOLUTELY no interest in either the Yankees or the Red Sox, so don’t apply knowledge that just isn’t there to enhance your argument. I am a fan of a small market team, but one that doesn’t trade away its players for virtually unknown prospects every chance they get.
What people are not mentioning is the fact that there is a 2-14 day period of time from exposure/contraction to onset of symptoms (average of 4 days).. It could take a few days before players have a high enough viral load to test positive. Even if you test all the Phillies today, it doesn’t mean they won’t test positive tomorrow or the next day. There is no telling how many more Marlins will test positive when tested today, tomorrow. I hope I am wrong but isn’t that the way the virus works?
False positives, asymptomatic people, false negatives… I mean where does this thing end? Do we live like this forever? Imagine if it is like AIDs and we have to wait for a vaccine (there isn’t one for AIDs yet)
What people seem to not realize is that MLB and MLBPA can follow all of the protocols needed, they still have no control over how the pandemic is being handled by the airlines that they travel in or the hotels that they stay in. We’ve seen those industries are more concerned about getting people in instead of making their businesses safe (filled up airplanes and hotel bars with no protocols enforced). If you fly in a plane that wasn’t properly cleaned with cost saving cleaning methods or a hotel with the same issues, you’re at risk.
Sadly, sports needs to shut down. The only other method would be trying a bubble – in a location with multiple stadiums within a short bus ride of distance. Take over all of the hotels and buy them out so no unauthorized people can enter.
And of note, if a bubble doesn’t work for this or the NBA or any sport, the reality is this sports season is done and we’re all back to watching classic games until the world is safe again.
Try as they may, MLB cannot stop the juggernaut that is the Baltimore Orioles!