Marlins have Covid outbreak

[NachoMan]

Why not? People have played in sports infected with the flu before

If you were ever wondering how MLB (and the US) is currently such a **** show, it's brain geniuses like this

[Wonderful Monds]

And before that “baseball players aren’t going to die from this” line gets repeated at me, just want to point that the Red Sox’ Eduardo Rodriguez is currently out and can’t throw more than 20 pitches without getting exhausted because he has heart inflammation from a mild case of this.

[Boss-Hog]

Rather than debating the seriousness of the virus, which you can do in multiple other open threads on this site, let's keep this discussion focused on the implications to MLB.

[NachoMan]

And before that “baseball players aren’t going to die from this” line gets repeated at me, just want to point that the Red Sox’ Eduardo Rodriguez is currently out and can’t throw more than 20 pitches without getting exhausted because he has heart inflammation from a mild case of this.

Not to mention, five coaches/team personnel from the Marlins infected. It's not just the "healthy and young" players. Speaking of which -- Anthony Rizzo is supposed to play the Reds tonight? Let's see how these test results look.

[Mitri]

Two games cancelled, the incoming Yankees/Phillies game and the Marlins game. Marlins should have to forfeit, give them a L and move on. I like that they cancelled the Yanks/Phils game, gives them time to sanitize the visiting clubhouse and to isolate/test Phillies players.

Marlins need to strictly isolate infected players and keep them from the remaining team. This is why MLB has a 60 player pool. One of the advantages of not being in a bubble like the NBA is you can contain spikes to one or two teams, and just hope they don't get much bigger than 15 people. Hopefully the Phillies are good and Marlins and mobilize quickly.

[Wonderful Monds]

If a coach or manager dies from this, it kinda goes without saying the season is over, but there’s going to be some serious shame and regret around the league for playing in these conditions without a serious plan to prevent it from spreading like crazy.

[Ironman92]

I’d say masks will be much more prevalent during the games and in the dugouts. You see a bunch being worn but also fairly lax in a lot of situations that we see from just what the tv cameras show.

[westofyou]

True. Yeah they rejected it out of hand. I don't see how people can say this is hindsight talking when a bubble is exactly what health experts said was necessary to make it work, AND the NBA, NHL and MLS are all doing it.

Hell, freaking TBT handled this better than MLB and MLBPA.

The bubble idea for a whole season was problematic for baseball, all the teams all with larger rosters and having it in AZ in the height of summer was not a good idea except in theory

[JaxRed]

From Heyman - Blue Dot

1m
Hearing Marlins are out there looking for extra MLB quality players. Obviously they have a lot of concerns but one of them is fielding a representative team.

[RedTeamGo!]

Eduardo Rodriguez of the Red Sox is having heart issues and his doctors are saying it’s because of his COVID infection.

This is a 27 year old athlete. Folks that say this only effects old and sick people: take note.

Just because you don’t die from COVID doesn’t mean it can’t mess you up for the long term.

[Kc61]

MLB must take immediate measures on this.

1. Obviously, anyone infected or believed to be infected must be strictly isolated.

2. Review in-game video to see where it’s breaking down. For example, I saw too much fraternization on the field. Any player who can perform with a mask should be asked or instructed to do so.

3. Reinforce dugout/clubhouse social distancing rules.

4. Marlins played in Philly so travel was involved. Examine whether protocols for travel were strictly followed.

Time to tighten the belt or it’ll be all over.

[Ron Madden]

and are these games really canceled or postponed?

Ken Rosenthal
@Ken_Rosenthal
Postponed is the proper word, for now.

[jup]

The MLB does have safety protocols for this exact situation, that is why the Yank game was postponed.

One of the protocols is sanitizing the clubhouse if the outbreak of a certain size (which I am sure this falls under that category) occurs. Another is the procedure for isolating players on the road and "repatriating" them to there home city. There is language about who pays for the hotels, how they seek health care, and how they are allowed to travel.

In this case, for the infected, they are a little far to be driven back to their home city, so maybe a special charter flight, as both are part of the protocols. If not they are to be isolated in the hotel, with meal service and health care provided.

And I suspect the reason the team has not left Philly, is they are waiting on tests to make sure the complete extent of the infections on the team before they are allowed to board a flight as a group, which is also part of the protocols.

[NachoMan]

MLB must take immediate measures on this.

1. Obviously, anyone infected or believed to be infected must be strictly isolated.

2. Review in-game video to see where it’s breaking down. For example, I saw too much fraternization on the field. Any player who can perform with a mask should be asked or instructed to do so.

3. Reinforce dugout/clubhouse social distancing rules.

4. Marlins played in Philly so travel was involved. Examine whether protocols for travel were strictly followed.

Time to tighten the belt or it’ll be all over.

I have a feeling the protocols are based on outdated assumptions about the virus. Remember when we were all concerned about handling groceries, packages? That seems like what the MLB protocols are designed for.

What they should do is basically eliminate the locker room. Shared air is the big problem -- make players get ready at home/hotel and any coaching can happen in open air.

But that also leaves the big problem that the players are basically on the honor code when they leave the stadium.

[MillerTime58]

I have a feeling the protocols are based on outdated assumptions about the virus. Remember when we were all concerned about handling groceries, packages? That seems like what the MLB protocols are designed for.

What they should do is basically eliminate the locker room. Shared air is the big problem -- make players get ready at home/hotel and any coaching can happen in open air.

But that also leaves the big problem that the players are basically on the honor code when they leave the stadium.

Either play in a bubble, or don't play in the US. Those seem to be the 2 options to safely do a sports league right now.