And the MLB 2020 season negotiations begin

[rink23]

ESPN report says Manfred could put the season on hold/cancel it as soon as Monday.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...ng-coronavirus

[Syd Thrift]

Originally Posted by rink23

ESPN report says Manfred could put the season on hold/cancel it as soon as Monday.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...ng-coronavirus

Good: MLB may be coming to its senses.
Bad: ESPN and the rest of the SCLM continues to lap up this anti-player BS.

Look. If you decided not to create a bubble, that's as much on you as it is the players you negotiated with. And the fact that the Marlins left it up to a player vote as to whether or not to do the thing they love to do is on the people outside of that situation, not the players, because of *course* the players are going to vote to play. But the bottom line is, if you have to shut down, it's not because the mean old players didn't do everything you want to do. In fact, perhaps closer to the truth is, you used all of your capital trying to chintz the players on salary and whenever y'all broached the issue of quarantines and the like you were all "hey, trust us, we got that in the bag. Now will you please just agree to play 85 games for the price of 50?". And speaking of being chintzy, why isn't the testing / contact tracing program uniform from one club to the next? Did you think this through, like, at all?

The NBA, who has a far, far less contentious relationship between the owners and the players, managed to get a quarantine "bubble" set up and they've had exactly zero players test positive for COVID-19 since they established the bubble. The NHL has also not had issues and they *do* have a fairly recent history of labor strife. You can blame this on the players all you want, MLB, but this is as much on you as anyone else.

[low]

Let's just cancel the season already. I don't need the Cardinals infecting my Brewers. Try again next year.

[CBeisbol]

Someone's getting minimum wage to drive a bus full of players around
Guessing there was a waiver involved

[Syd Thrift]

Actual footage of Rob Manfred, when told that MLB could still quarantine or call off the season and he could feel good about not getting additional staff or players sick or dead:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J06XxIM6CsA

[RchW]

Originally Posted by CBeisbol

Phillies, Blue Jays, Marlins, Nationals, Cardinals and Brewers not playing due to COVID.

Is this Manfred's Waterloo?

[thehef]

Watching a bit of Dodgers and D-backs and it looks like the players in the dugout are more masked up compared to previously. And unlike with dingers the last few games, when Mookie hit one out he did air high-fives with 3rd base coach, on deck hitter, and the guys in the dugout.

Maybe too little too late, but at least they're trying.

[dkgo]

Olbermann reporting that MLB has told it's broadcast channels to have other programming ready for Monday.

Looking like this past week is going to be the end segment of a 30 for 30 soon.

[Westheim]

Not all is lost. Lock everybody in for a week until you have all the infected players / personnel sifted out, then pick up the schedule from there, and keep them the heck locked in when not travelling.

Cull playoffs to eight teams to make up the lost week.

Cut down on travel by axing the usual concept of home/road games; every third of the league has a city with two ballparks, those should host a game every day to reduce travel.

And if necessary, expunge the Marlins from the schedule entirely. It's not like they wouldn't have finished in fifth place anyway. Most of it is their fault. And it's not like they have fans anyway...

[CONN CHRIS]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXnJVkEX8O4

[CBeisbol]

"Several" Cardinals tested positive



Also, Manfred has indicated to broadcast stations that they should alternative programming ready to go on Monday
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/r...nt-per-report/


EDIT:
Apparently 5 Cardinals tested positive
1 player and 4 coaches
Rumors that they were recently at a casino

[cephasjames]

Both the league for not doing more to enforce the protocols and the players for not following the protocols are to blame for all of this. If all had agreed upon a bubble to begin with this probably would not have been an issue like it is now.

[Hoiles]

It looks like we'll need another patch to include all the on-the-fly changes that MLB will make to the season so it will be semi-possible to complete.

[BBGiovanni]

Originally Posted by Hoiles

It looks like we'll need another patch to include all the on-the-fly changes that MLB will make to the season so it will be semi-possible to complete.

Coming soon: 3-inning games, a tripleheader every day!

[Syd Thrift]

Even that assumes they’ll be able to stay ahead of teams postponing games over and over again like this. Basically, every single time there’s any outbreak, both clubs have to postpone because, forgetting about bubbles and the like, there is nothing preventing one infected player or coach from infecting multiple people in the clubhouse, and while we *think* it won’t spread outside so easily, that seems like an awfully big risk to take without a ton of evidence to support it.

Obviously having a bubble and very stringent testing and contact tracing rules would help. But maybe it’s also time to not allow players to congregate in groups larger than, say, 7 or 8 indoors, period. That probably means condoning off separate clubhouse sections or even having the bulk of the players on the roster not use the clubhouse at all and get bussed in from a remote location. The NBA and NHL haven’t done this but, well, they haven’t had any positive cases shutting down entire teams yet. As it’s clear that MLB will not force the players into a bubble or force their teams to aggressively test, contact trace, and sequester, more failsafes must be put into place.

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by RchW

Is this Manfred's Waterloo?

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by Westheim

Not all is lost. Lock everybody in for a week until you have all the infected players / personnel sifted out, then pick up the schedule from there, and keep them the heck locked in when not travelling.

Cull playoffs to eight teams to make up the lost week.

Cut down on travel by axing the usual concept of home/road games; every third of the league has a city with two ballparks, those should host a game every day to reduce travel.

And if necessary, expunge the Marlins from the schedule entirely. It's not like they wouldn't have finished in fifth place anyway. Most of it is their fault. And it's not like they have fans anyway...

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by Syd Thrift

Even that assumes they’ll be able to stay ahead of teams postponing games over and over again like this. Basically, every single time there’s any outbreak, both clubs have to postpone because, forgetting about bubbles and the like, there is nothing preventing one infected player or coach from infecting multiple people in the clubhouse, and while we *think* it won’t spread outside so easily, that seems like an awfully big risk to take without a ton of evidence to support it.

Obviously having a bubble and very stringent testing and contact tracing rules would help. But maybe it’s also time to not allow players to congregate in groups larger than, say, 7 or 8 indoors, period. That probably means condoning off separate clubhouse sections or even having the bulk of the players on the roster not use the clubhouse at all and get bussed in from a remote location. The NBA and NHL haven’t done this but, well, they haven’t had any positive cases shutting down entire teams yet. As it’s clear that MLB will not force the players into a bubble or force their teams to aggressively test, contact trace, and sequester, more failsafes must be put into place.

Kinda, sorta what I was trying to say earlier in this thread?

[Syd Thrift]

Originally Posted by actionjackson

Kinda, sorta what I was trying to say earlier in this thread?

Sort of but I’m not sure a bubble is enough at this point, particularly if they’re not going to also take the 10-14 days off to ensure its security. I think instead you just have to accept that some players will come down with it and try to eliminate altogether the time they spend as one big group indoors. Maybe they can just camp out in the outfield!

[thehef]

Count me as one who is hopeful the season can be salvaged, one way or another. If it has to be cancelled, the players should be blamed for not following the rules (absent any contradicting evidence), but Manfred and the MLB should be blamed for a) thinking the players would follow the rules, and b) therefore not going the "bubble" route. (That said, it's too early to say that the NBA's and NHL's bubble plans are a success; one outbreak in a bubble could pretty quickly crash the whole thing.)

At any rate, if the baseball season is cancelled I'm fine with Manfred getting ALL the blame - deserved or not - given the way he completely bungled (and continues to bungle) the Astros scandal.