Guess how many players will sit out the season due to Covid?

[KronoRed]

as many as are deserved?

No player deserves any crap if they choose not to play.

[RED VAN HOT]

Perhaps we should guess how many sets of asterisks will be required in the record books.

[Rolando]

Perhaps we should guess how many sets of asterisks will be required in the record books.

None it wouldn't be worth the time because if they had to go back and put asterisk across everything that was it legit they be doing that till 2022

[Strikes Out Looking]

The only athletes that deserve criticism are those that haven't and don't practice social distancing and other safe Covid-19 practices and then bring it in to their clubhouses and homes. Players that sit out the season due to the risks do not deserve criticism.

[DocRed]

The only athletes that deserve criticism are those that haven't and don't practice social distancing and other safe Covid-19 practices and then bring it in to their clubhouses and homes. Players that sit out the season due to the risks do not deserve criticism.

Which is probably well over 50% of athletes

[JFLegal]

No player deserves any crap if they choose not to play.

that is your opinion. if a player who is healthy sits out just because he's pouting he's not getting 100% of his contract for only playing 37.5% of the usual games, that would be weak. now, if a player is sitting out because he has serious health concerns, that is a different story.

[FlightRick]

that is your opinion. if a player who is healthy sits out just because he's pouting he's not getting 100% of his contract for only playing 37.5% of the usual games, that would be weak. now, if a player is sitting out because he has serious health concerns, that is a different story.

A player does not have to be concerned about himself to opt out. Any intellectually curious human with basic critical thinking skills realizes that we, as a country, have a problem, and how we -- as individuals -- choose to behave affects the scope of the problem. So even just in the abstract, keeping oneself out of circulation (make no mistake, at great financial expense) to prevent harm coming to others is a very justifiable choice.

I think it was either today or yesterday when the NBA released new data about their players, and 15 or so -- more than an active roster of 12 players! -- have the COVID. A tennis tournament was cancelled before the finals because 2 of the semi-finalists (including one famous one who I actually heard of) tested positive. This doesn't event get to the support personnel, who are not the classic "superhuman athlete" types who everybody just assumes gets COVID asymptomatically (which is also false). Large groups of people are required to run a sporting event, and they're all just as at risk as the athletes.

As soon as you acknowledge that, and admit that it's fair that NOBODY in that ecosphere should be asked to take that back to wives or kids, any player who opts out is golden. It's not them, it may be their loved ones, it may not even be their loved ones, it may be anonymous support personnel, it may not even be anonymous support personnel, it may be the family of anonymous support personnel or anybody who comes into contact with anyone who comes into contact with the family of anonymous support personnel or comes in contact with them and so on and so on.

I hope like hell MLB threads the needle and completes some semblance of a season, complete with a champion. But if it falls apart because the players (or front offices) get smacked by the same reality that's smacking America as a whole right now with regard to the pandemic? I won't be surprised. Nor angry at anybody, other than those who caused our country to be one of the few major 1st world powers that utterly failed to flatten the curve, but that's another debate....

[757690]

Looking at what is happening with the other sports leagues and Covid19, I think a better question would be:

How many games does the MLB season last?

[scotly50]

Looking at what is happening with the other sports leagues and Covid19, I think a better question would be:

How many games does the MLB season last?

I do not see any way they can complete a season, even a 60 game season.

[JaxRed]

As long as they can convince the players to stay out of "bar" types situations, and if the league doesn't panic when the first few people come down with it, I think they'll complete the season just fine. Keep the players in virtual bubbles.

But seeing all the packed bars videos on Twitter is just crazy. All young folks that think they are bullet proof even if they get it. And so far they are right. The cases are soaring but the death rates are still trending down. It's a lagging indicator so we'll see how that holds.

[DocRed]

As long as they can convince the players to stay out of "bar" types situations, and if the league doesn't panic when the first few people come down with it, I think they'll complete the season just fine. Keep the players in virtual bubbles.

But seeing all the packed bars videos on Twitter is just crazy. All young folks that think they are bullet proof even if they get it. And so far they are right. The cases are soaring but the death rates are still trending down. It's a lagging indicator so we'll see how that holds.

They are going to have to have some sort of check in system or even tracking system on the players or I guarantee you they won't follow it. Some of the older players and those with families might but most won't.

[Rolando]

Looking at what is happening with the other sports leagues and Covid19, I think a better question would be:

How many games does the MLB season last?

Has any sports league in this country shut down after restarting?

[jup]

They are going to have to have some sort of check in system or even tracking system on the players or I guarantee you they won't follow it. Some of the older players and those with families might but most won't.

Read the Health & Safety protocols - there is all sorts of screening levels specified.

[dougdirt]

Has any sports league in this country shut down after restarting?

The "leagues" that are back aren't comparable to team sports, so it's tough to say there's much of a comparison that NASCAR has put on a month's worth of races without shutting down. But we have seen some colleges already decide they are sitting out sports in the fall. No big schools, yet, of course.

[jup]

As a side note, the real test may be not in players opting out but staff.

You have a lot of coaches and scouts that are much much older and have comorbidities. It is the staff that is of a higher concern for the serious Covid impacts than the players who tend to be younger and healthy. I would place the staff whom opt out much higher percentage wise than the players.

For on field staff, maybe 7 (hitting, pitching, bullpen, 1st & 3rd base, bench, manager) relative to the 25(season end) to 30(season start) you are talking one fourth the total. So if one of those opts out it would be like 15%, where one player would be like 3% to 4%. And I would put the over under even higher on them.

So if it was 5 for 750 to 900 players, I would put the over/under on the staff side at maybe 10. But that is for a much lower population