COVID-19 impact on MLB season

[folly412]

It shut down this forum?

 

Back online! Nothing important happened while we were gone, right?

 

If you mean like actually playing baseball, then nope!

 

 

More positives for the Cardinals today. Launch the team into the sun!!!

 

Kidding (sorta) ... but this isn't good. Will be interesting to find out what happened with the Cardinals, and who screwed up to cause this.

 

Rumors of players both going to Potawatomi and going up to Whistling Straits on the day off. Unlikely it was contracted after they arrived in Milwaukee, but would illustrates behaviors in the league that are only making things more difficult.

[owbc]

There is a lot of blame to go around, particularly on the safety aspects. That said, the commissioner is the one who is responsible for this completely preventable disaster. The commissioner is the one who has Dr. Fauci on speed dial, and Fauci basically laid out what needed to be done in April. Adam Silver and Gary Bettman got to work following those recommendations. Manfred went to work agitating the players union with financial proposals that were certain to be thrown straight in the trash.

 

Once the non-bubble situation was agreed to, MLB did literally nothing to enforce the rules, even though everyone knew it was paramount that ALL risky situations where transmission was possible needed to be avoided. The players didn’t do themselves any favors here either.

[wntrtxn21]

There is a lot of blame to go around, particularly on the safety aspects. That said, the commissioner is the one who is responsible for this completely preventable disaster. The commissioner is the one who has Dr. Fauci on speed dial, and Fauci basically laid out what needed to be done in April. Adam Silver and Gary Bettman got to work following those recommendations. Manfred went to work agitating the players union with financial proposals that were certain to be thrown straight in the trash.

 

Once the non-bubble situation was agreed to, MLB did literally nothing to enforce the rules, even though everyone knew it was paramount that ALL risky situations where transmission was possible needed to be avoided. The players didn’t do themselves any favors here either.

 

I don't think you can blame Manfred here. I don't know what the union agreed to concerning enforcement of policies. However the risk of penalty shouldn't be the driving force behind what the players do in their off time anyway. The risk of the entire SEASON should be their primary concern when planning activities away from the ball park. Obviously some players don't take it seriously and if they choose to do anything risky, that's on them alone.

[MrTPlush]

Should just make teams forfeit games if they are going to be negligent and start a team outbreak like the Marlins did and possibly the Cardinals...though I’m not sure it’s clear how the Cardinals outbreak started.

 

Give some incentive to teams actually following the rules put in place this season.

[dlk9s]

The season just needs to be nuked from orbit already.

[owbc]

Risky behavior or not, the goal of keeping over 1,000 players/coaches free of COVID was always doomed. Compare the style/philosophy/leadership of Adam Silver vs. Manfred.

[CheezWizHed]

We need to be careful blaming people that get sick too. Masks and social distancing are only capable of limiting exposure and not preventing it. People do get sick when "doing it right" too.

 

Yes, some people do take unnecessary risks, but I'm seeing an increase of COVID-shaming (social media in general). It is a form of bullying.

[ReverendBrewmeister]

Risky behavior or not, the goal of keeping over 1,000 players/coaches free of COVID was always doomed. Compare the style/philosophy/leadership of Adam Silver vs. Manfred.

 

I'm not a fan of Manfred, but there seems to be more in play than differing "style/philosophy/leadership of Adam Silver vs. Manfred." A major factor is the difference in relationship between MLB and MLB ownership with MLBPA compared to the relationship between the NBA and NBA ownership to NBPA.

 

The "pod/hub" system might have increased the chance for a baseball season to be completed, but that didn't seem to gain much favor with MLBPA. MLB is also complicated by needing to hold daily games that are multiple hours in length. Having several of those taking place daily in one stadium is harder than what the NBA or NHL need to do to finish off their 2019-2020 season and playoffs. That said, I'm not sure whether NBA or NHL could pull their system off for an entire season.

[MrTPlush]

A true bubble would have never worked in MLB. There are over double the players in the MLB and more personnel in general. Easy to make a bunch of pop up basketball courts. They are indoors and they aren’t that big. You can’t just go build a bunch of MLB quality fields in a few minutes. Arizona would have given them a few field for every complex. However, it’s 100+ degrees there and it would have taken multiple complexes make it work (traveling). There is also no onsite lodging like the NBA can manage at Disney (so even more traveling).that really isn’t even a bubble so they figured what is the difference just private jetting everywhere...pretty much the same concept with more distance.

 

MLB has the advantage of not having as much close contact, but end of the day they also can’t make a bubble league. They needed adults to make good decisions. Unfortunately in two team outbreaks it appears both were due to poor decisions by select individuals.

 

MLB and Manfred did about as well as they could with what they were working with. The biggest problem though is the scheduling. They left little room for issues and those were inevitable. It seems they started the season and didn’t even know what they were going to do when faced with postponed games and/or outbreaks causing whole series to be scrapped.

[owbc]

I get that a bubble wasn't possible, but then there should have been extremely strict protocols + enforcement for the non-bubble scenario. I'm not excusing the players here, but the system was set up so that they felt they could get away with it. There really isn't any enforcement or accountability in MLB right now, except for Joe Kelley it seems.

[tmwiese55]

If they can just get through the next two weeks without another MIA/STL issue I think they have a shot to pull it off. I feel like they caught a minor break so far on STL that it wasn't worse. So now if you can two clean weeks hopefully these show to be one off or flukes. They should also serve as a 'take this serious' warning to all other teams or else they're at risk of losing their paychecks.

 

ETA: Turns out I spoke too soon. Looks like STL is going to be worse. So with all their protocols, their financial benefits, and this much testing look what's happened to two MLB teams. You'd think people would wake up throughout the country on what can happen to normal people/work environments (without any of those perks). Yet, I had to listen this weekend about how it's all made up and not real, after almost 5 months now this faction still won't listen to basic common sense, math, data, and science.

Edited August 3, 2020 by tmwiese55

[Eye Black]

Cardinals have at least 6 players and 2 staff confirmed positive according to Cardinals beat reporter Mark Saxon. He said it could be as many as 13 positives according to a source. They will not be going to Detroit as scheduled...

 

Source: the Cardinals are not going to Detroit, which was to be their next destination. That means they likely will have to make up at least seven games.

 

Also, I can now confirm at least eight positives. Of those, six are players. One source said the number is 13.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Cardinals have at least 6 players and 2 staff confirmed positive according to Cardinals beat reporter Mark Saxon. He said it could be as many as 13 according to a source. They will not be going to Detroit as scheduled...

 

Source: the Cardinals are not going to Detroit, which was to be their next destination. That means they likely will have to make up at least seven games.

 

Also, I can now confirm at least eight positives. Of those, six are players. One source said the number is 13.

 

I'm glad that another team has taken the crosshairs of blame off the Marlins. I'm also kinda glad its the Cardinals.

 

Even at a prorated salary, these guys are making a lot of money. Also, if they want to opt out, they can, no questions asked. MLB has to find a way to come down on the guys who are breaking protocol.

[Eye Black]

Jon Heyman clarified the 13 positives: 7 Cardinals players have tested positive for Covid and 6 staff members. So 13 total personnel. Tigers series postponed as @markasaxon

reported 1st

 

Jeff Passan posted the press release:

 

[Eye Black]

Sounds like they will be staying in Milwaukee for the time-being. If anyone had upcoming reservations at the Pfister, you might want to rethink them. I'll be sort of curious to see how they eventually transport the positive players and staff. The Marlins planned bus trip from Philly to Miami sounded awful (and I still can't imagine who would be willing to drive these buses).

[B-Train]

All of this reminds me of the days when we were kids playing hardball with baseballs that were busting at the seams. We kept playing until the ball fell completely apart.

[82brewcrew82]

If true, and the offending team broke the rules, I think they should just have to forfeit all these games they are causing to be postponed.

[owbc]

There’s no evidence that the Marlins broke the rules. The only rule that was broken was MLB allowing them to play after there were positive tests.

[CheezWizHed]

Maybe you take the other 30 guys on the 60-man and go play the series the "A squad" couldn't play? Yes, only 10 of those players are on the 40-man, but rules are made to be broken...

[adambr2]

There’s no evidence that the Marlins broke the rules.

 

Huh? There's absolutely evidence that Marlins players violated protocols. The league certainly should shoulder a lot of blame too, but let's put some accountability also where it belongs on individuals making bad choices.

 

https://www.thebiglead.com/posts/miami-marlins-players-ignored-protocols-punished-01eekke2hp5q

[stalton]

Assuming MLB plays a fullish season, itll be interesting what they deem as the cutoff for qualified batters/pitchers for the awards considering some players have incentives based on where/if they stand in the rankings.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

It seems clear that once a player or staff member tests positive (esp. on a road trip), it is goodbye for at least a week. How can you continue to play and send individuals out into hotels and cities is a bit beyond my grasp. I want baseball as much as anyone, but the season is 10 days old, and a big chunk of the schedule is postponed. MLB has made a mess of this all around. Some players have been irresponsible, but the league set up a bad system. I know so many people who casually said "Well, baseball should be fun for 2 weeks," and any organization dumb enough to look at this plan and think it workable deserves criticism and financial loss.

[RollieTime]

If there is ever a season where the Brewers struggle and get a top 5 pick, I hope it is this season. With the shortened season, no fans, Covid raising havoc for teams in different cities, it just doesn’t feel right. This whole Covid thing would even make a championship not feel as sweet as it should. I would much prefer a top 5 pick this season and head into 2021 with things (hopefully) back to normal.

[Eye Black]

It seems clear that once a player or staff member tests positive (esp. on a road trip), it is goodbye for at least a week. How can you continue to play and send individuals out into hotels and cities is a bit beyond my grasp. I want baseball as much as anyone, but the season is 10 days old, and a big chunk of the schedule is postponed. MLB has made a mess of this all around. Some players have been irresponsible, but the league set up a bad system. I know so many people who casually said "Well, baseball should be fun for 2 weeks," and any organization dumb enough to look at this plan and think it workable deserves criticism and financial loss.

The part I don't understand is even if they limped through a season, I have no idea how the 16-team playoff field would work if you continued to have teams with cases. Delaying playoff series' for a week or more at a time, and then possibly having teams play without a third of their playoff roster seems impractical.

[Boomer5]

Maybe you take the other 30 guys on the 60-man and go play the series the "A squad" couldn't play? Yes, only 10 of those players are on the 40-man, but rules are made to be broken...

 

That’s what I’m thinking. They have a taxi squad for a reason. Just make if next man up and play ball.