The New Summer Season

[Benjamin Grimm]

https://images.theweek.com/sites/default/files/sbr062620dapr.jpg?resize=807x807>

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'm really looking forward to seeing the schedule. Games are supposed to start in three weeks. There should be a schedule soon.



I guess hotels are mostly empty so the teams probably don't need to book rooms too far in advance.

[batmagadanleadoff]

We should take a poll. How likely is it that the 2020 season will be played to a conclusion without interruption? ... that in the end, the 2020 season will have to be canceled because of the pandemic? ... that the 2020 season will be completed, but with pandemic-related interruptions or stoppages. What do youse think will happen if one or two teams have to go into quarantine during the 2020 season? Will the whole league shut down for that quarantine, or just the teams in question? And if it's just the teams affected, do they forfeit their games while in quarantine, or will those games (as many as 2 weeks worth?) be rescheduled. This last option seems too disruptive and impractical to pull off. I guess if a main roster has to quarantine, the team probably brings up replacements en masse from the overall 60 man eligible roster.

I thought of this and then came up with what I thought might be the answer as I was writing the post above. Today The Athletic ponders this question.



What happens if one team has to shut down? Where will MLB draw the line?







Excerpt:

One team. That's all it would take. An outbreak of COVID-19 in just one clubhouse. It's the last thing anyone in baseball wants to spend much time fixating on right now, on the day teams finally return to the diamond to start refocusing on Opening Day. But it's a scenario this sport has no choice but to prepare for. What would happen if one team – only one – had to stop play and shut down for even a couple of weeks? That's the question I posed this week to medical experts and people inside the game. Take a deep breath, because the ramifications are enormous. What would happen to the schedule – not just for that team but for multiple teams? How would clubs be affected that were supposed to play that team? Who in Major League Baseball would have to make that decision to shut down a team? And most importantly, what would need to happen to force MLB to make it? The answer is probably a much smaller outbreak than you'd think. [***] In other words, Binney said, the threshold would be far lower than, say, 10 or 12 people on one club testing positive. Even four cases in a week, or three in five days, should sound alarms. And that would be especially troublesome if these were players who were known to have spent significant time together. Are we talking about a group of infielders? Players with lockers near each other? [***] Baseball officials know they'll be facing these types of decisions at a time when the virus is surging again in nearly every area they play in. [***] ... baseball will not be trying to play inside a bubble, like the NBA and NHL. It will lose sight of every player in between home games. It will depend on those same players not to visit bars, restaurants or even the local 7-Eleven on the road. So while it will be hard enough to pull this off in that NBA bubble, “MLB is playing much looser,” Binney said. “They're relying on the honor system.”

https://theathletic.com/1907562/2020/07/03/stark-what-happens-if-one-team-has-to-shut-down-where-will-mlb-draw-the-line/https://theathletic.com/1907562/2020/07/03/stark-what-happens-if-one-team-has-to-shut-down-where-will-mlb-draw-the-line/

[nymr83]

Per ESPN:



https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29406217/31-mlb-players-positive-coronavirus-first-round-testshttps://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29406217/31-mlb-players-positive-coronavirus-first-round-tests

Thirty-one players were positive for COVID-19 in Major League Baseball's first round of coronavirus testing, the league and players' union announced Friday. Seven staff members also tested positive. The 38 positives represent 1.2% of 3,185 samples collected for the first set of results. For comparison, the NBA on June 26 reported a 5.3% rate of positive tests (16 of 302) among players, while MLS announced a positive rate of 2.7% (18 of 668) among players two days later.

that is not nearly as many as I would have expected. Makes you wonder what those NBA players were up to.

[Benjamin Grimm]

That averages to almost exactly one per team, but I read somewhere that the 31 players are spread among 19 teams, which means that 11 of the teams have zero positive cases. So far.



Apparently, for HIPAA reasons, the new COVID-19 inactive list is going to be kept secret from the public. Are we going to see players just suddenly stop appearing in games with no explanation? I think if that happens, people will be able to put two and two together.

[bmfc1]

Stroman and Rosario didn't work out yesterday.



Stroman tweeted that he'll be at CF on Sunday.

Update: Stroman is "ready to rock":

https://twitter.com/STR0/status/1279392422942969856https://twitter.com/STR0/status/1279392422942969856

[kcmets]

Just saw a Mets 'spring training' report on the local news.



I forgot Luis Rojas was our skipper. 2020, sheesh...

[G-Fafif]

=kcmets post_id=39868 time=1593869800 user_id=53]
I forgot Luis Rojas was our skipper. 2020, sheesh...

[kcmets]

You a funny man! haha

[Lefty Specialist]

It does seem that MLB is taking a lot of things on faith. Seems inevitable that there's going to be a cluster in at least one team in the next 3 months. And then what?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Four Atlanta players* have tested positive, including Freddie Freeman.









*Are we going to have to stop calling them the Braves? The historical Atlanta team name is also problematic. "The Crackers".

[bmfc1]

https://twitter.com/BNightengale/status/1279484480151973888https://twitter.com/BNightengale/status/1279484480151973888

Edited July 4, 2020 by Guest

[batmagadanleadoff]

Mike Trout doesn't ‘feel comfortable' about playing in 2020 and he's not alone

Even [Trout] is not certain he will play. “Honestly, I still don't feel comfortable,” the three-time American League MVP said. “I don't want to test positive and bring it back to my wife. I've thought hard about this, and I'm still thinking about this. This is a tough time, a tough situation everyone is in.” [***] The concerns go beyond the Angels' clubhouse. Trout said multiple players on other teams have expressed their doubts to him about baseball's ability to successfully pull off a return with the lingering threat of the coronavirus. “They're all thinking the same thing,” Trout said. “Is this going to work?” Trout's concerns are more personal, beyond the bickering between MLB and the MLB Players Association that he described as “messy.” He and his wife, Jessica, are expecting their first child in August, bringing about its own set of complicating factors. [***] “I can't put them in jeopardy,” Trout said. “Obviously, being with them and keeping them the healthiest is my top priority.”

https://theathletic.com/1908520/2020/07/03/mike-trout-doesnt-feel-comfortable-about-playing-in-2020-and-hes-not-alone/https://theathletic.com/1908520/2020/07/03/mike-trout-doesnt-feel-comfortable-about-playing-in-2020-and-hes-not-alone/

[Frayed Knot]

David Price informs all his Dodger fans -- in case you've forgotten (and it would be understandable if you had since everything prior to March seems like three years ago) Price was part of the salary shedding

trade* this winter involving Boston & LA which sent all kinds of players everywhere including Mookie Betts to LA -- that he won't be playing baseball in 2020. He at least, unlike Betts, won't be a FA this winter

so this doesn't automatically close the book on him being a Dodger in the future, just the near future.









* Feb 10: Betts & Price sent to LA for 24 y/o OF Alex Verdugo plus two minor leaguers

[nymr83]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: That averages to almost exactly one per team, but I read somewhere that the 31 players are spread among 19 teams, which means that 11 of the teams have zero positive cases. So far. Apparently, for HIPAA reasons, the new COVID-19 inactive list is going to be kept secret from the public. Are we going to see players just suddenly stop appearing in games with no explanation? I think if that happens, people will be able to put two and two together.

Of course, putting two and two together doesnt violate HIPAA.



member of the public, or sportwriters, speculating doesn't either. Which leads to a question: Can the national broadcasters or broadcasters who are NOT employed by the team or SNY which is really owned by the team speculate on air?



next question, does anyone even care? the Jets basically said "Sam Darnold has Mono" - maybe that was cleared with him?

[batmagadanleadoff]

I always thought that the rule was that if the injury or health condition was related to the sport itself, then it could be disclosed publicly. But then again, RA Dickey's missing ulnar nerve or whatever it is that he ain't got was disclosed so I guess I'm not really sure. Maybe there's a special rule for covid-19 that the league agreed to regarding disclosures. HIPAA forbids disclosures by anybody and for anything unless the patient otherwise consents. Perhaps the bargaining agreement allows teams to disclose player's health issues, or at least some of them.

[RealityChuck]

=batmagadanleadoff post_id=39920 time=1593916453 user_id=68]
I always thought that the rule was that if the injury or health condition was related to the sport itself, then it could be disclosed publicly. But then again, RA Dickey's missing ulnar nerve or whatever it is that he ain't got was disclosed so I guess I'm not really sure. Maybe there's a special rule for covid-19 that the league agreed to regarding disclosures. HIPAA forbids disclosures by anybody and for anything unless the patient otherwise consents. Perhaps the bargaining agreement allows teams to disclose player's health issues, or at least some of them.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I think there's a very good chance that the season doesn't finish. I also think there's a decent enough chance that it won't even start.

[Benjamin Grimm]

MLB Press Release wrote: The 2020 60-game Major League Baseball schedule will be announced tonight, July 6, on MLB Tonight: Schedule Release presented by Camping World live at 6:00 p.m. EDT on MLB Network hosted by Matt Vasgersian with analysis from Harold Reynolds and Tom Verducci, the one-hour special will unveil key matchups and dates of the 60-game schedule, which will begin on Thursday, July 23 and Friday, July 24.

I can't imagine sitting and watching this. While I'm looking forward to seeing the schedule, I really don't care enough to sit through an hour of "analysis" to find out if the Mets are going to play the Marlins on August 1 or August 10. I'll take a peek at the schedule online some time after 7. Sorry, Camping World!

[MFS62]

When you don't have a real event to show, everything is an event.

Later

[Lefty Specialist]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I think there's a very good chance that the season doesn't finish. I also think there's a decent enough chance that it won't even start.

Trying not to get too excited about this 'season' because I fear you're right.

[G-Fafif]

The happiest man in baseball is optimistic.

[Benjamin Grimm]

You know, right now I'll be happy if they play one game.

[G-Fafif]

[G-Fafif]

Buster Posey has opted out.

[MFS62]

In an intrasquad game DeGrom gave up a double the the leadoff batter for the other "team", some guy named Jed Lowrie.

He lives!

Later

[Benjamin Grimm]

So what you're saying is that Jacob deGrom can't get Jed Lowrie out.

[MFS62]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: So what you're saying is that Jacob deGrom can't get Jed Lowrie out.

Well, this time. Jake has always been a slow starter, so don't panic.

(ludicrous meter getting warmed up for the start of the season)

Later

[bmfc1]

Yasiel Puig to Atlanta. Not good news.

[Frayed Knot]

Had totally forgotten that Puig was a FA and that he had spent all winter/spring unattached.

Still just 29 y/o and, although he's been wearing out welcomes lately, he's the type of player you can see the Braves getting a great year out of while he sings for further suppers.

Will essentially replace Nick Markakis -- who himself did a nice aging-player renaissance thing in 'Lanta over the past few years at ages 34 & 35 -- as he has opted to sit this Covid-season out.