Covid and MLB
- Thread starter jon abbey
- Start date
Of course this is way too early to have any real conclusion, but perhaps what we're seeing is similar to some of the contact tracing that has been going on in some places for a while. Covid transmission in an outdoor environment when contact is brief is probably rare. Meaning that sharing first base for a minute or two may not be high risk, as long as you're not yelling at each other or otherwise potentially sharing liquids. However, sharing a dugout (I really can't believe players are in dugouts -- aren't there a few empty seats just above them? How much coaching constantly goes on that this would have an adverse effect on strategy?), a clubhouse, travel, showers, whatever, that is where the risk is. We've seen it elsewhere when an outbreak is traced to a club, or an office, or a bus with recirculated air.
I'm not sure what this says about how to proceed, but it is the reason why a bubble can/might work, but it will be a real challenge if just one person inside that bubble gets infected.
I'm not sure what this says about how to proceed, but it is the reason why a bubble can/might work, but it will be a real challenge if just one person inside that bubble gets infected.
The Marlins are at 17 ... haven't seen the breakdown yet, but yesterday it was 11 players, 2 coaches
At what point does that fit with Manfred's statement yesterday that changes would have to come if a team were deemed non-competitive
Yes, yes, saying the Marlins were already non-competitive is very funny
At what point does that fit with Manfred's statement yesterday that changes would have to come if a team were deemed non-competitive
Yes, yes, saying the Marlins were already non-competitive is very funny
Rosenthal is plugged in of course and one way MLB might try to finagle this is to have a NYY @ BAL series now, MIA/PHI quarantine for an "undetermined period", and I assume when NYY @ BAL comes up again in the schedule try to do NYY @ PHI and BAL @ MIA then. This is all so tenuous at best...
The Marlins need to quarantine for TWO WEEKS to do this proper. How is this not stopping the season? is MLB actually going to do forfeits?
View: https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/1288164474785013762
The Marlins need to quarantine for TWO WEEKS to do this proper. How is this not stopping the season? is MLB actually going to do forfeits?
View: https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/1288164474785013762
All MLB cares about is the$$$$$
They don’t give a shit about the well-being of players.
Context matters.
The first scenario involves players testing positive, which means that the bias should be to protect those who have not tested positive. Which is presumably why there is a protocol. And while I don't know what the MLB protocol is, I can pretty much guarantee you that "find out whether the players on the team with the infections still wants to play" is not supposed to be the deciding factor.
The second scenario involves a known, active outbreak. In that case, the bias (again) needs to be about protecting the uninfected. Which means that you first determine whether playing the game is possible/advisable and then you ensure that you obtain informed consent from the players who may be exposed to the virus. So yeah, in that circumstance, the players must be involved in the decision as to whether they can/should play.
Manfred is missing a huge marketing opportunity here. He should simply turn the MLB season in a competition to see which teams can make it through without a COVID infection. You can even do a tie-in to Fanduel or something like that to bet on players making it through.
The only problem is that I can see Anthony Rizzo not being as generous with sanitizer in that scenario.
The only problem is that I can see Anthony Rizzo not being as generous with sanitizer in that scenario.
I understand that but they need to wake the fuck up here. Let's see what happens now with the Nats.
MLB.com still has the game at 6:05 tonight, but the Yankees have apparently left, so it's definitely not happening. The whole thing is weird - if you go to mlb.com, there's one story about Manfred addressing the positive tests, and that's it. Wouldn't even know anything was going on. I mean, I'm not surprised, but still.
Yeah, I've been using the espn.com schedule list for more accurate info. MLB just doesn't want to deal with it
I don't understand how that would work because presumably MIA and PHI have series scheduled then too. There is simply no way to shut a team or teams down for an extended period of time without massive, unavoidable ripple effects through the rest of the schedule, which is already tight to begin with.
MLB.com still has the friggin' Marlins game as going forward tonight. The whole league has its head buried very, very far in the sand at the moment.
I don't know who you work for, but I bet that they also have a similar opinion.
Not a formal one. Was reading the SB Nation Marlins blog which pointed out that the words "outbreak" or "cancellation" appear nowhere in MLB's protocols for this season, amazingly.
Yes, I came to the same joke independently. The version @TFP posted is probably better phrased, and certainly more accurately reflective of the actual language used in broadcasts, and if I'd stolen it I would've kept that language in. I don't want to derail this thread, so I've posted in Backwash about this - went through all the jokes I've made in the last 10 days, and can't seem to figure out which ones seem stolen to others
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Players didn’t seem to care either when they were whining about pay rate a few weeks ago.
I think everyone gets a pass, owners and players, because the reality of the situation changes so quickly
Mlb planned on the Marlins playing next week. According to this, not so fast.
View: https://twitter.com/andyslater/status/1288184825090912256?s=21
View: https://twitter.com/andyslater/status/1288184825090912256?s=21
It's a sliding scale. Whether it's Huizenga, Loria, or Covid, the Marlins have plenty of experience with half their roster disappearing overnight. If there's one franchise that knows how to handle this, it's Miami.
Ha. Marvelous. I think they're still in arbitration over the 1.2 billion dollar sale that the Marlins tried to stiff the city/county over.
Marlins games officially postponed through Sunday.
@dougherty_jesse
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1m
MLB officially announces that Marlins games have been postponed through this coming Sunday. The Nationals were scheduled to travel to Miami this weekend, though players were against going (as articulated by a team vote Monday evening).
@dougherty_jesse
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1m
MLB officially announces that Marlins games have been postponed through this coming Sunday. The Nationals were scheduled to travel to Miami this weekend, though players were against going (as articulated by a team vote Monday evening).
Yep, as has been said in regards to the Blue Jays situation ... ultimately, it will be governments that will tell sports leagues what they can do
So that means, as of now, the Marlins have to make up 2 home games v. the Orioles, 2 away games v. the Orioles, 3 home games v. the Nationals.
That's a ton of double headers.
I can't believe they didn't plan for this.
That's a ton of double headers.
I can't believe they didn't plan for this.
This is...not going smoothly.
Look at the bright side: if teams play an uneven number of games this year due to COVID cancellations the Red Sox are very unlikely to end up missing the playoffs by percentage points again.
Look at the bright side: if teams play an uneven number of games this year due to COVID cancellations the Red Sox are very unlikely to end up missing the playoffs by percentage points again.
Gov. Cuomo just named DC a place that you would have to quarantine for 2 weeks upon arriving in NY. Um, how is this going to work with the Yankees who were just in DC?
Florida, Georgia, and Maryland are on there as well. How are the Rays, Marlins, Braves, and Orioles getting around this?
Florida, Georgia, and Maryland are on there as well. How are the Rays, Marlins, Braves, and Orioles getting around this?
Think about how close they came to not having an agreement without dealing with all of this. That is why, I imagine, they didn't----they knew the summer would be done before they reached a deal that actually planned for and dealt with the uncertainties and risks (and who didn't get paid/didn't benefit/did and did not bear risk) so instead they made a deal that ignored all the mess and crossed their fingers.
Trying to play in a pandemic is the ultimate test for the quality of the working relationship between owners and players. And MLB's is very poor. So they have a wholly inadequate agreement with wholly inadequate planning instead.
Sports teams are exempted from the quarantine restrictions (as is the case in all other states that have quarantine requirements, I believe).
I would’ve cancelled the season yesterday, but they need to stop it here if they have any hope of playing this out. If any Phillies start to test positive over the coming days it kind of has to end immediately, right?
None of these players should be traveling the country and then mingling with the general populations and then traveling the country. They should be doing something like what the Blue Jays were planning on doing at the Rogers Centre/Hotel.
The teams worked with local officials on the plan to return. I'm sure the parties agreed to some sort of quarantine exemption, but I'd imagine some states will start to reconsider.
Unless MLB plans to announce a two week extension to the season for all the present and future postponements, they're probably done for this year.
Would probably need to plan a bubble for the playoffs if they can make it that long, too. At least there is time to figure that out and it could be someplace warm.
Would probably need to plan a bubble for the playoffs if they can make it that long, too. At least there is time to figure that out and it could be someplace warm.
And DC also has the same quarantine for people entering from many states. And has been noted, MLB also excluded from that one.
I won't repost but there are lots of interesting Twitter conspiracies (is that redundant?) about the original source of the Marlins infection. Let's just say it highlights some of the issues with contact tracing if true. Also, it won't make the MLB look any better.
Should there be more baseball, Juan Soto received 2 consecutive negative tests, waiting on MLB and DC clearance to play.
I’m sorry if I missed it, but why wasn’t MLB in a bubble? I know there are more players than in the NBA and I remember the initial states they were discussing - FL and AZ are hotspots - but was it a matter of players not wanting to be away from their families that long or owner intransigence? Because it really seems like sports in the US at least aren’t going to work without a strict bubble.
I may be wrong but I think it was a whole confluence of things including (1) a shortsighted belief when negotiations were happening that we were on the downside of the Covid curve and that transmission is less likely outdoors (ignoring things like transmission in planes, buses, and locker rooms of course) (2) players not wanting to be apart from families (3) inability/lack of willpower/need to rush things due to the extended dispute between league and union prevented them from finding a bubble location (or two, or three, etc.) in the time frame they needed (4) probably some owners were under the deluded impression that some level of fans might be allowed in the stands by the end of the season (a delusion at least some NFL owners also seem to be under).
They had to have been eating together.
The term “false negative” is really not accurate; they are negative at that time. The test measures what is there but it’s only a snapshot.
FWIW, the majority of the players were probably infected by the same person at the same time.
Here:
https://www.virology.ws/2020/07/18/twiv-640-test-often-fast-turnaround-with-michael-mina/
People aren’t contagious at the time they test PCR negative. False negative is a poor description. Viral loads increase exponentially, so a negative at 8am Monday can mean someone is positive and contagious at 5pm Monday or 10am Tuesday. It’s basically a retrospective result.
The term “false negative” is really not accurate; they are negative at that time. The test measures what is there but it’s only a snapshot.
FWIW, the majority of the players were probably infected by the same person at the same time.
Here:
https://www.virology.ws/2020/07/18/twiv-640-test-often-fast-turnaround-with-michael-mina/
It's much easier for hockey and basketball to share space. There are half as many games and the games themselves are shorter. You need more than twice as many playing surfaces to accomplish the same thing in baseball.
