then coronavirus happened, 2020 baseball

from the athletic:

Based on existing literature, the incubation period for COVID-19 ranges from two to 14 days. Dr. Zachary Binney, an epidemiologist at Emory University’s Oxford College, said that both the Marlins and Phillies should be shut down for at least five days.

The Marlins remained in Philadelphia on Monday, awaiting their next wave of test results. Depending upon how those results turned out, those games might now be played at Camden Yards, where the teams already were scheduled to begin a two-game series Wednesday, sources said. Under the makeshift plan, the non-infected Marlins players would take a bus from Philadelphia to Baltimore, and members of the team’s 60-player pool would replace those who had tested positive.

“This is absolutely insane … if possible, the literal stupidest possible plan,” Binney said on Twitter. “You have a raging outbreak, anyone in the Marlins traveling party could be infected regardless of how their tests come back. So by all means, just bring that on the road to Baltimore!”

On the “Starkville” podcast, Binney said, “At a minimum, you have to shut down for at least five days to see if more cases uncover. And you need to wait because you could have ongoing transmission from cases that are newly discovered tomorrow or the next day. You could still have more come from chains of transmission from those people after that. So there’s no cure but time here, unfortunately.”

This is absolutely insane … if possible, the literal stupidest possible plan

who knew the best August US politics thread title would come from the baseball board

white sox pitcher michael kopech has filed for divorce from riverdale actress vanessa morgan after five months. they are expecting a baby in january

That did not take much of him hanging around the house.

Basically speechless, except that yes, I imagine it will take a death to shut everything down.

I'll be honest about one thing, though. For all my above-it-all/no-interest posts previously, I've been checking boxscores the way I always do, and noticing things like Nelson Cruz's start. I really don't care, it's just habit.

i don't think it's going to take a death unless eduardo rodriguez makes a full recovery pretty quickly

I cancelled MLB.tv when covid hit as a quick money saving measure, and I'm feeling a little withdrawal.

look up mlbstreams on the the reddit.

ah, thanks!

on the bright side, my lifelong dream of playing for the Marlins looks a little closer to reality.

Marlins remain in Philadelphia. One of previous team members to test positive had a subsequent test come back negative, source says. Would need two negatives at least 24 hours apart to become eligible to return. https://t.co/EG0HkVib9P

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 28, 2020

this may be old info now (interview with Manfred from last night):

Manfred announced that the Marlins -- who were going through additional testing on Monday -- would not play either of their scheduled games Monday or Tuesday in Miami against the Orioles. If testing results are acceptable, Manfred said the two teams would resume play on Wednesday in Baltimore. Whether the two postponed games will be moved to Camden Yards remains to be seen, Manfred said.

MLB expects to receive test results from the Phillies and Marlins late Monday night, at which time the league will determine how those teams will proceed. The Phillies were set to host the Yankees on Monday night, but the game was postponed out of an abundance of caution.

“We're waiting to see exactly what we get in terms of test results before we make a decision,” Manfred said. “Right now, the only thing that's firm is if the test results result in negatives for the rest of the [Marlins], we would play at least two in Baltimore on Wednesday and Thursday.”

The Marlins underwent testing on Friday, which revealed one positive result Saturday. That led to more testing Saturday, which revealed three more positives on Sunday.

“What then happened under the protocols, was we did contact tracing on all four positives; there were a small number of players who met the CDC guidelines,” Manfred said. “They were quarantined; we ordered additional testing, we did symptom checks. We did temperature checks and decided to proceed with the game on Sunday.”

Manfred spoke with the league’s 30 owners during a regularly scheduled conference call Monday and the group did not discuss the possibility of canceling the season or even putting it on hiatus.

https://www.mlb.com/news/commissioner-rob-manfred-on-covid-19-postponed-games

In team vote, vast majority of Nationals players voted against going to Miami for three-game series this weekend, sources tell The Athletic. Decision will rest with MLB.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 28, 2020

via Jay Jaffe

Why is the @Marlins playing in BAL in 2 days insane? Fair question.

-You have an out of control outbreak in your traveling party
-Anyone could be infected
-Anyone could've gotten infected as late as Sunday
-Today & Tuesday they could test negative but be incubating the virus https://t.co/ity25gHeZK

— Zachary Binney, PhD (@zbinney_NFLinj) July 27, 2020

where's the competitive spirit, of course you want 3 games against a leper colony

"the only thing that's firm" is your best-case scenario. That's it in a nutshell.

Baseball has always just been so pitiless. Why else would players play an insane 162-game season with like 1 day off per week? Just squeeze the players for everything.

There was an article on ESPN about E-Rod's myocarditis that was written entirely around the question of 'When do you think you can pitch again, Eduardo?' If you get hurt in baseball, it's regarded as weakness. And then they forget about you.

agreed in general but

Why else would players play an insane 162-game season with like 1 day off per week?

because it's fun! I miss playing baseball.

if there were an abundance of caution, there wouldn't be a season. wonder if the nats just opt-out en masse if mlb makes them go to miami

meanwhile, patrick mahomes has joined the royals ownership group

oh it's fun for the fans, certainly :)

yes the "abundance of caution" line.. my god

I think it's fun for the players, too. I'm not saying it's not a grind or they don't relish off days—but I think *most* players enjoy and look forward to playing as often as they do.

Phillies under this plan would return to play Friday against the Blue Jays at Citizens Bank Park - as the visiting team (under a previous plan due to Jays’ inability to play in Canada). Team would be isolated until then, not technically quarantined. https://t.co/Np6OcS3o6h

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 28, 2020

mlbtr:

The current plan is for the Marlins to be held out from playing until “at least” next Monday, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Incorporating doubleheaders and making use of some off-days could help to make up ground in the schedule, although with only a week’s worth of off-days worked into the existing schedule, there are some potential pitfalls with that approach as well.

maybe every team should only have one another team they play, a 55-game series, and then at the end there's a banquest for the 15 world champions, in Buffalo

OTHER / BANQUET

Confirming the @AdamSpolane report the Astros are set to sign 43-year-old Fernando Rodney from the Sugar Land Skeeters, pending physical. They desperately need some bullpen experience, and he has it.

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) July 28, 2020

they would be his 12th mlb team

I know the players tend to gripe a bit at the end of the season ("everyone's hurt in the playoffs" is a line I hear a lot) but I don't think the 162-game season is all that bad, IMO the NBA and NFL have bigger problems with the "too many games" thing. when I played softball I tried to play as many days of the week as I could.

MLB statement... pic.twitter.com/zJ681SwLsp

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 28, 2020

ok fine about the 162 games but MLB is still utterly pitiless

The difficult circumstances of one Club

did anyone else sort of stop taking the season seriously yesterday

hard to look at this like "real" baseball when games are getting cancelled and it feels like the other shoe's gonna drop any minute

I stopped before it started

i stopped saturday when i noticed fox's cgi fans in the outfield bleachers at dodger stadium

i'm old school dodger stadium fan - i prefer the cardboard cutouts with the really obnoxiously wide bright white borders

Hope Tupac, Dio, and wacko Jacko make it to the stadium too

Maybe they can figure out a way to green screen the field and everybody can play from home

The experience of listening to the game on the radio isn’t too different from 2019, although it seems every home stadium has a different level of obnoxiousness for their fake cheers.

If season is interrupted or delayed, March agreement states players will receive prorated pay only for the number of games their teams actually play. However, the union asked the league to make an exception for WAS, PHI and NYY, and the league agreed. Has not discussed Marlins. https://t.co/87gkycphmf

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 29, 2020

What am I missing? Why those three?

their games were postponed because of you know what

the Marlins are the ones who ruined this for everyone, they should be penalized

Another Marlins player has tested positive for COVID-19, sources tell The Athletic. Only positive result in most recent tests. Brings team total to 16 players and two coaches.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 29, 2020

Have the marlins actually been that worse than the other teams - or have they just had worse luck?
Because so far it looks like most teams are doing a pretty halfassed job at following the guidelines.

the marlins have been a competitive integrity problem for several years; i'm not sure that this situation is really a lot worse. it is pretty striking how these teams all have 60-man pools and are still scouring the waiver wire and signing 43-year-old relievers. it's rough when your starters are only built up to 75 pitches!

Fifteen Marlins players have tested positive for COVID-19.

Scouts say their top prospects aren't ready for the majors, and there aren't many veterans at their alternate site camp.

On MLB's looming competitive integrity problem.https://t.co/hVVV63WsBK

— Kyle Glaser (@KyleAGlaser) July 29, 2020

how inevitable is it that this happens to another team, one that might actually make the playoffs in fact

hmmm, that sounds like a real question. better to keep our thinking in the realm of the magical, where things cannot and should not be explained, where things go away on their own

I am not superstitious (ok, I lied, I totally am) but I wonder if this is the Marlins curse of removing the Homer sculpture from the outfield to outside of the stadium.

we might need a separate thread for CEO Jeter's defensive press releases

tbf, defense hasn't been his strong suit in quite a long time

thats a bingo