Royals Will Play Four Games In Toronto With A 16-Man Roster(10 Unvaccinated Players Cannot Cross US-Canada Border)

The Kansas City Royals were forced to place more than one-third of their roster on the restricted list before a four-game series in Toronto. That's 10 players out of 26 (38%). The Royals, owners of the second-worst record in the AL and fourth-worst in MLB (34-53), will carry on with a 16-man roster against the Blue Jays on Thursday night.

Outfielders Andrew Benintendi, Michael A. Taylor, Kyle Isbel, infielder Whit Merrifield, catchers M.J. Melendez and Cam Gallagher, DH Hunter Dozier, and pitchers Brad Keller, Brady Singer, and Dylan Coleman were left behind -- because they refuse to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, which has killed well over one million Americans. Variants are currently infecting more than 100,000 Americans every day.

Benintendi currently has the 9th best OBP in MLB, and nine multi-hit games in his last 15 starts. Since June 27, he is batting .407 with an .939 OPS. But: "For me, it was a personal decision. And I'm going to leave it at that."

Ah, the cowardly response. Of course. If Benintendi is going to give the middle finger to his teammates  (and Royals fans) by refusing to help them win, he should at least have the guts to publicly say why and then accept responsbility for that decision like a mature adult.

J.D. Martinez Refuses To Lead On Vaccinations, Says (Wrongly) It's "A Personal Decision"

Peter Abraham of the Globe reports that the Red Sox may not be fully vaccinated for a long time. Part of that reason, he writes, is "the hesitancy by some players". Abraham cites a "cultural divide with Latin American players".

J.D. Martinez refused to say whether he has been vaccinated:

That's one of those personal things for me. . . . That's a personal decision. That's to each his own. Everyone has the right to believe and to think what they want to think about their body and what they're putting into their body.

Well, that's actually not true when it comes to potentially fatal communicable diseases that has killed, according to some estimates, seven million people worldwide in a single year. While the official US death toll from Covid-19 stands at roughly 600,000, the actual total is likely over 900,000. Doesn't Martinez also have a responsibility to ensure he's taking proper steps to make sure the people around him are also safe?

Everyone has a right to their body and what they do. It's a crazy time we're living in. I think I understand that. So it's one of those things. If you want to do it, do it. If you don't, then don't do it. It's bigger than the game, you know what I mean? It's your life. It's bigger than just baseball.

Everyone has a right to their body and what they do . . . until it impinges upon the individual freedom (and safety and lives) of other people.

What if Martinez applied his philosophy to getting drunk and driving around?

Driving drunk is one of those personal things for me. . . . That's a personal decision. . . . Everyone has a right to their body and what they do. . . . If you want to drive drunk, do it. . . . It's your life.

Manager Alex Cora has been fully vaccinated, a fact he mentions from time to time. JDM could also set an example for his teammates, but he has actively chosen not to do that.

Also: Martinez's comment that "everyone has the right to believe and to think what they want to think" makes me wonder if he has fallen under the spell of QAnon or some other deranged cult but is hesitant to admit it.

Barnes Tests Positive For COVID-19; Andriese Also In Quarantine

Matt Barnes tested positive for COVID-19 today. Reliever Matt Andriese is one of "a few people" now in quarantine, according to manager Alex Cora. The news comes only five days before the start of the season.

Barnes had thrown five shutout innings this spring, allowing only two hits and three walks, with eight strikeouts. Adam Ottavino might be the team's main closer as the season begins.

Cora got the news early Saturday morning:

We just have to be patient throughout the day to get more information about it. Hopefully instead of adding people to it we subtract people from that list, but we have to be very careful . . . You start thinking about, "What if something else happens? Where are we going to be in a few days?" . . . It's one isolated quote-unquote incident. Let's hope that's the case. . . . There's a process and they talk to Matt, what he's done the last three or four days . . . what he did from breakfast to dinner, who he spent more time with . . .

MLB Refused To Follow Its Own COVID Policies, So Please Blame Justin Turner

The MLB Commissioner's office is working to divert attention from its failures regarding COVID-19 testing and protocol and setting up Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner as the sole bad guy. After being told he had tested positive and the Dodgers had won the World Series, Turner wandering around the field, at times without a mask, hugging, celebrating, and posing for pictures with his championship-winning teammates.

Turner is a selfish, irresponsible fool for knowingly putting dozens of people at serious risk for a deadly disease. Who would disagree with that? Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated reported that after Turner was told by MLB security that he had to remain in isolation, he said: "Fuck it, I'm going out there." 

But there is also no doubt that MLB bears a significant portion of the blame. After MLB was told in the second inning of Tuesday night's Game 6 that Turner's test results were "inconclusive" (from samples taken on Monday), MLB made a deliberate decision to toss its protocols out the window and wing it.

The game should have been stopped in the second inning. An inconclusive result is supposed to be regarded as "positive" until further testing determines otherwise and earlier in the season, MLB treated inconclusive tests seriously, postponing several games. But not in the World Series. MLB requested the results from Turner's Tuesday samples as soon as possible. If they came back negative, then no one would ever need to know anything. But, as we know, the results were positive. 

Commissioner Rob Manfred has yet to even attempt an explanation or provide a more detailed timeline. How many times (and in how many ways) can he prove his lack of leadership? It seems there are infinite examples. Manfred's office did not do nothing, though. It issued a statement putting all the blame on Turner (my emphasis):

Immediately upon receiving notice from the laboratory of a positive test, protocols were triggered, leading to the removal of Justin Turner from last night's game. Turner was placed into isolation for the safety of those around him. However, following the Dodgers' victory, it is clear that Turner chose to disregard the agreed-upon joint protocols and the instructions he was given regarding the safety and protection of others. While a desire to celebrate is understandable, Turner's decision to leave isolation and enter the field was wrong and put everyone he came in contact with at risk. When MLB Security raised the matter of being on the field with Turner, he emphatically refused to comply.

The Commissioner's Office is beginning a full investigation into this matter and will consult with the Players Association within the parameters of the joint 2020 Operations Manual. . . .

Note: There is no mention of the inconclusive test results which MLB was told about in the second inning. Manfred tossed that down the memory hole, while also indirectly praising himself with the first words of the statement. It appears that most sportswriters are accepting Manfred's spin and highlighting Turner's on-field behaviour.

At some point, Manfred will have to answer (or refuse to answer) why Turner was not pulled from Game 6 when MLB was told of his status in the second inning? Why did MLB choose to ignore its own policy? (And how did Turner contract the virus if everyone involved with the World Series was supposed to remain in the bubble?)

Stephanie Apstein (SI) reported that Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman disagreed with the suggestion that his team had behaved badly.

"Having a mask on and staying socially distanced, he wanted to come out and take a picture with the trophy," he said. . . . 

In fact, for much of his time on the field, Turner did not wear a mask, nor did he stay socially distanced. Friedman should know: He spent several minutes chatting from inches away with a maskless Turner. Turner posed for photos with the trophy and with several teammates. He sprawled on the grass in the center of the team picture.

In a season nearly derailed by risky behavior, this was the most irresponsible moment yet. The league has protocols restricting behavior by people who have contracted the virus. . . . But on Tuesday, the scientists in baseball pants were allowed to make public-health policy based on what seemed most fun. . . .

Friedman argued that because everyone celebrating on the field had been sealed inside the playoff bubble for a month, Turner probably did not expose anyone who would not already have been exposed. (It's worth noting that Turner managed to contract the virus despite the supposed impermeability of that bubble.) . . .

It's true that players next to whom Turner had been lounging in the dugout were probably at no higher risk an hour after the team learned he was positive than an hour before, and most team employees knew he had tested positive and could have avoided him. But most players and staffers had their spouses and children on the field with them, many of whom were likely unaware. Studies suggest the effects of COVID can linger for months or longer, and even people who exhibit only mild symptoms can develop serious, debilitating brain damage. Should the toddlers crawling around home plate have been made to take that risk?

Some of the Dodgers are at a higher risk. Manager Dave Roberts is a cancer survivor. Pitcher Kenley Jansen dealt with the virus earlier this year and has a heart condition. At least one of the players' wives is pregnant.

Friedman said: "I haven't seen the pictures. I totally understand the question. If there are people around him without masks, that's not good optics at all." Despite claiming ignorance, Friedman himself spent several minutes inches away from a maskless Turner.

Dr. Jill Weatherhead, assistant professor of infectious diseases at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, told NBC News:

It's not just about this one particular player . . . and it's not just about the players he's near. People need to see you doing the right thing and taking it seriously. Anytime you test positive, the right thing to do is to stay isolated — despite these wonderful achievements that you want to celebrate, that you want to be part of. . . . People in the general public are doing this. They're missing weddings, missing achievements and funerals and losing jobs because they're staying home and following recommendations of the CDC. Everyone needs to be held to the same standards.

On Tuesday night, the Dodgers downplayed the situation, saying his teammates were already among those who'd be subject to contact tracing. NBC News medical contributor Dr. Natalie Azar said that reasoning was "absolutely ridiculous".

That argument does not fly. Your risk has to do with the number of human interactions you have, the duration of that exposure and the proximity of that exposure. So it's just a numbers game. Statistically, the more time you spend around someone who's positive, the greater the likelihood or the risk is that you yourself will test positive. So that doesn't work.

Turner Pulled From Game 6 After Positive Virus Test (Though Timeline Is Suspect);Later, Turner Defies Orders, Returns To Field, Poses For Team Photo Without Mask

Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner was removed from Game 6 of the World Series after test results showed he was infected with SARS-CoV-2. Turner was replaced in the top of the eighth inning. The Dodgers went on to win the game, clinching their first championship since 1988.

No reason was given during the game for the substitution and Turner was not with his teammates when they ran onto the field to celebrate after the final out.

About an hour after the game, Turner was out on the field with his wife. He (at times) wore a mask. Turner hugged teammates. He was not wearing a mask when he kissed his wife or sat among his teammates for a group photo.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported during the Fox broadcast:

He tested positive yesterday. They got those positive results back this afternoon. Ran a test today, came back positive again. This is NOT a case of a false positive… he was asked not to go on the field. He insisted upon it, the Dodgers insisted upon it.

According to Ken Rosenthal, Justin Turner tested positive for yesterday's test, had a second positive test this evening and was also told not to go on the field and did anyway. pic.twitter.com/Xm1QjzW95X

— Jacob Rude (@JacobRude) October 28, 2020

A little later, Rosenthal tweeted a HUGE revision to that account:

One correction to what I said on @FS1 about Turner timeline. First result, on the test from yesterday, came back in the second inning, not in the afternoon. His test from earlier today was then expedited, and when it came back positive, he was removed from the game.

An inconclusive test should be treated as a "presumptive positive" until the results of a second test can be determined. Turner should have been immediately taken out of the game and quarantined in the second inning. More than one person asked: "How was yesterday's test not in before the 2nd inning tonight but today's test was expedited so easily? None of this makes any sense." 

Rosenthal's second version of events lines up with what ESPN's Jeff Passan reported.

When the Dodgers return to their hotel tonight, everybody will be given a rapid PCR test. On the field right now, as they celebrate, the Dodgers are wearing masks. Unclear as to whether they’ll stay in Dallas area before traveling back to Los Angeles. Situation fluid right now.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 28, 2020

Rob Manfred said Justin Turner was removed from the game in the 7th and “immediately isolated to prevent the spread” of COVID. 

So how did this happen? pic.twitter.com/7967tswcpr

— Don Van Natta Jr. (@DVNJr) October 28, 2020

The answer is he went back out and nobody stopped him. He was asked to isolate and didn’t. https://t.co/AFyWN0Xt0b

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 28, 2020

Mookie Betts was asked by the Los Angeles Times about Turner being back on the field and in the middle of the team photo:

He's part of the team. Forget all that. He's part of the team. We're not excluding him from anything.

There are going to be a shit-ton of questions for Turner, the Dodgers, and the Commissioner's office (with or without additional players or family members testing positive over the next week). Such irresponsible behaviour.

Per @Ken_Rosenthal, Justin Turner, after a positive COVID-19 test, was asked to not go back on the field following the game - and he and the Dodgers ignored it and decided that was OK.

And you wonder why we can't get rid of COVID-19 in the United States.

— Jason Smith (@howaboutafresca) October 28, 2020

After the Dodgers won the World Series, most of the questions for Andrew Friedman focused on how Justin Turner wound up on the field tonight after two positive COVID-19 tests after the game and, most importantly, stayed there after the team photo. This story won't be going away.

— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) October 28, 2020

Diana Moskovitz (Defector) said Passan's report "leaves a whole lot out":

Why is MLB not getting testing results until the second inning? Shouldn't it get those before the game? Why are the samples from today not arriving until after the baseball game started? Is this why so many Dodgers players had masks on during their on-field celebration? . . .

During his SportsCenter appearance, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was cryptic about Turner: "It will come out later, but right now I really can't speak to it." Turner chimed in on Twitter, saying he felt "great" with no symptoms, and felt bad that he couldn't enjoy the victory with his teammates.

But a few minutes later, there he was on the field. With the World Series over, MLB and the Dodgers abandoned any pretense of protocol, as if they believed that the coronavirus had vanished following the conclusion of the season. The players who were in the same dugout as Turner for most of the game were hugging family members and each other; Turner was allowed back on the field to hang out with teammates. The Dodgers gathered for a team photo and Turner sat next to the trophy, making sure to pull down his mask for the picture.

Even in the scenario where Turner's test turns out to be a false positive, it's wildly irresponsible to let him be this close to not just his teammates, but everyone else who has to be on the field for the festivities. But there are no more games in danger of being canceled or postponed, so MLB doesn't have to care. It can treat a positive test in the middle of the World Series as a rapidly developing situation and let everyone else figure it out in the offseason.

What's most astonishing at how badly MLB screwed this up is that the NBA and NHL gave them a blueprint of how to do it successfully and it was apparently just completely ignored

i suppose it is only astonishing if you are completely unfamiliar with every other act of Rob Manfred

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) October 28, 2020

A Double-Shot Of Manfred Shittiness

"I hate baseball and I hate people enjoying baseball. It's as simple as that."

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred wants baseball to keep the new rule of starting extra innings with a runner on second base. He also supports an expanded postseason format. Any rule changes for 2021 must be approved by the Players Union.

Manfred believes the three-batter minimum for relief pitchers is "here to stay". He claims that everyone in the game supports it, which is almost certainly complete bullshit.

"Complete bullshit" also serves as a succinct description of Manfred's entire portfolio of "improvements" to the game. The no-pitch intentional walk and the three-batter minimum were enacted, in part, at least, to speed up games, something that the lords of basebal have been complaining about for well over 100 years. 

In 2020, the average nine-inning game lasted 3:07.46, an increase of two minutes, 11 seconds from the previous year! 

Great work, Rob! . . . What's next? . . . Only two outs per inning? . . . Batters get one swing per plate appearance? . . . Outlawing home run trots might save some time. . . . Speaking of which, how about pitchers throwing only fastballs? Those off-speed pitches can really slow the game down.

Rob Manfred Discusses State Of MLB In Wide-Ranging Interview
Associated Press, October 20, 2020

Ahead of a World Series capping the pandemic-shortened season, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said he hopes to keep two of this year's innovations: expanded playoffs and starting extra innings with runners on second base. 

"People were wildly unenthusiastic about the changes. And then when they saw them in action, they were much more positive," Manfred said Tuesday during an interview with The Associated Press.

. . . After Opening Day was delayed from March 26 to July 23, MLB and the players' association agreed to expand the number of teams in the playoffs from 10 to 16.

Even before the pandemic, Manfred advocated a future expansion of the playoffs to 14 teams.

"I like the idea of, and I'm choosing my words carefully here, an expanded playoff format," Manfred said. "I don't think we would do 16 like we did this year. I think we do have to be cognizant of making sure that we preserve the importance of our regular season. But I think something beyond the 10 that we were at would be a good change." . . .

"I think the players like it," Manfred said. "I think it's really good from a safety and health perspective that keeps us from putting players in situations where they're out there too long or in positions they're not used to playing."

Union head Tony Clark said it was too soon to commit to changes for 2021. The sport's labor contract runs through 2021, and the union's agreement is needed to alter the 2021 structure. . . .

Manfred was pleased with the rule he pushed for forcing pitchers to face a minimum of three batters or to finish the half inning.

"There's nothing about what happened this year that has changed, not only in my mind, but anybody in the game's mind about it, and I think that's here to stay," he said.

He would not say whether he favors keeping the expansion of the designated hitter to the National League, citing the need to bargain on the topic with the players' union. . . . 

Manfred also did not draw conclusions about the average time of a nine-inning game, which increased to a record 3 hours, 7 minutes, 46 seconds, up from 3:05:35 last year. The cause likely was tied to expanded rosters and increased pitching changes. He also thought it was difficult to analyze whether the drop in the major league batting average to .245, its lowest since 1968, was cyclical or an anomaly.

"What people are telling me about kind of every measure for this year in terms of statistics is that 60 [games] is just not a great sample size and you shouldn't really put too much weight on it," he said.

Manfred's decisions run counter to what fans want, if this Yahoo poll I voted in last night means anything. 

Why does Manfred think the best way to make baseball more popular is to impose radical changes that  the majority of fans do not like?

As the shortened season began, SB Nation react voters were against the new rules. 59% did not approve of beginning each extra inning with a runner on second, and . And even though 41% liked the rule, only 27% thought it should be used beyond 2020. A whopping 73% said the rule should be for 2020 only. Also, 58% said they do not like two seven-inning games for doubleheaders.

An MLB Trade Rumours poll from June reported that 80% of voters did not like the extra-inning rule.

MLB Promised Free COVID-19 Testing For Essential Workers. We're Still Waiting.
Bradford William Davis, New York Daily News, September 24, 2020

Tucked away in Major League Baseball's 113-page manual for playing through the coronavirus pandemic is a subtle assurance from the league and its owners to the public that baseball in 2020 would offset whatever resource drain might result from the business of baseball.

As Section 2.1.5, titled "Voluntary Testing of Household Members and First Responders" read: "MLB will offer free diagnostic/PCR and antibody/serology testing for . . . healthcare workers or other first responders in the Clubs' home cities as a public service."

MLB would clean up after itself, in other words, supplying free tests aimed at the workers cheered on by clanging pots and pans . . . Even if these tests might exclude other "essential workers," and if the manual barely defined how MLB planned to set any of this into motion, it was something.

Or it would have been something, if it had happened. Exactly three months after the manual was shown to the public, and two months after Opening Day, MLB is only now beginning to return its attention to promises made in June.

Of MLB's 30 teams . . . only one team, the Red Sox, has confirmed a testing plan aimed at frontline workers in its community. The Giants, who say they have made their testing site for players and coaches available to the city of San Francisco, are the next closest, but have not made specific plans to provide testing for frontline workers.

Most teams either didn't respond to the Daily News' inquiries or formally declined comment. Others deferred to MLB, which then deferred back to the individual clubs. . . .

For months, baseball has devoured about 10,000 tests per week for players and personnel. Those tests have to come from somewhere. The number may not be particularly large compared to the overall number of tests needed across the country, but it adds stress to an already overtaxed system, and grants priority and preference to players and team personnel who could otherwise be perfectly safe at home on their couch.

While MLB has spun up its own testing, the rest of the country is facing massive testing shortages, drive-through lines stretching for miles, and week-long waits for test results. Black and Latino communities across the city and nation continue to bear the brunt of the consequences of America's testing failure. These communities are disproportionately poor and lower-income, making it hard to afford a concierge testing program delivering results in 24 hours. And they make up a disproportionately large share of the "essential worker" class, putting them in the line of the virus for which we still cannot test cheaply or reliably. . . .

After multiple requests for clarification, an MLB representative provided a partial explanation: Testing health care workers and first responders was "an optional program that MLB and the MLBPA chose to implement."

Even if that is how the league officially views the situation, the language of MLB's health protocol manual never refers to the public service testing as "optional." . . . 

"Multiple clubs have activated programs or have plans in development, benefitting various healthcare institutions in Major League markets," the statement continued, while adding that the league provided test kits that were available by request to be distributed for "members of their community" at the club's discretion. So far, the league claims, there have been "thousands of recipients" of MLB's free COVID-19 tests.

It did not clarify who received these tests, or how "members of the community" might access tests flagged for their use.

When the News asked MLB to clarify which teams have or will launch programs in concert with 2.1.5 (ii), the league deferred, saying that "[individual] clubs can comment on their specific efforts."

Again, most teams did not. Seventeen of MLB's 30 teams, including the Yankees, did not respond to The News' repeated inquiries about their administration of the league's community testing initiative.

Finally, a bit of good news.

There will be no DH in the National League in 2021, although whether it will be AL-only in 2022 and beyond will be a topic of discussion after next season when negotiations begin on the sport's next collective bargaining agreement.

The Guardian: "Does Rob Manfred Hate Baseball?

Hunter Felt, The Guardian, August 5, 2020:

[I]t's hard not to look at [MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred's] actions and wonder if his seeming indifference to the game and its players goes beyond just cold-hearted corporatism. To put it bluntly: it doesn't seem as if Manfred likes baseball at all.

It's hard to pinpoint exactly when "Rob Manfred Hates Baseball" went from an internet meme meant to mock the commissioner into a working theory to explain his behavior. ... For a while, at least, Manfred's supposed hatred for the game was an amusing talking point, a comically absurd reduction of his nonstop complaining. ... Then came word of Manfred's quest to ravage baseball's minor leagues. This was a commissioner who was not here to grow the game: he was running a business and, like many executives who come into a new situation, all he saw were various inefficiencies left behind for him to "fix". ...

Manfred seems to have looked at this pandemic as a gift rather than a setback. The very real economic impact of Covid-19 was the perfect excuse for him to go forward with his minor league contraction plan without the pushback he otherwise would otherwise have surely received. The shortened 2020 season is a perfect situation to install his various "improvements": a National League designated hitter, a three-batter minimum rule for relief pitchers and even the ridiculous extra-inning baserunner idea. ...

[Manfred's] reaction to the outbreaks was clear: "the players need to be better. But I am not a quitter in general and there is no reason to quit now." This is going to be the line from here on out: nothing going forward will be the commissioner's fault: the plan was foolproof. If the players can't get through the season, if it has to be shut down then it's all on them. Maybe Rob Manfred doesn't hate baseball per se, but he makes it obvious that he doesn't care much about baseball players.

Manfred's refusal to accept responsibility, his quick willingness to ascribe blame to others, his indifference to, or inability to gauge, public perception of his ignorant and callous comments – it all sounds horrifyingly familiar:

nothing going forward will be the commissioner's president's fault: the plan was foolproof. If the players American people can't get through the season next year or two, if it has to be shut down they end up dying then it's all on them

MLB Postpones Four-Game Series Between Cardinals (7 Players Among 13 Positive Tests) And Tigers; Marlins May Resume Schedule Tomorrow, After 8 Days Off

This week's four-game series between the Cardinals and Tigers has been postponed, as the Cardinals have had 13 people test positive for SARS-CoV-2 (seven players and six staff members).

A statement from MLB says the team will remain quarantined in Milwaukee and will be tested daily. The team hopes to resume its schedule on Friday.

All 13 people who tested positive are back in St. Louis. Five of the 13 are asymptomatic.

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak:

The morale up here is good, all things considered. I do think people are tired of sitting in their room, but you've got to put safety first.

The Marlins, the first team with an outbreak, are scheduled to play tomorrow, which would be after eight off-days.

Marlins CEO Derek Jeter blames a false sense of security for his team's outbreak:

Guys were around each other, they got relaxed and they let their guard down. They were getting together in groups. They weren't wearing masks as much as they should have. They weren't social distancing. The entire traveling party got a little too comfortable. ... We did have a couple of individuals leave the hotel. We had guys leave to get coffee, to get clothes. A guy left to have dinner at a teammate's house. There were no other guests on site. There was no salacious activity. There was no hanging out at bars, no clubs, no running around Atlanta.

The Post claims Jeter "threw MLB under the bus" when he denied a report that the Marlins decided on their own to play on Sunday, July 26. CI says the decision was made by MLB and its COVID-19 response committee.

Tonight's Phillies-Yankees game is still on the schedule, but Tuesday's game has been postponed. The reason is weather: heavy rains from Tropical Storm Isaias. The teams will play a doubleheader in Philadelphia on Wednesday, with the teams alternating as home and away teams. The MFY's current schedule now includes two (seven-inning) doubleheaders in four days (Wednesday and Saturday).

Commissioner Ostrich: "I Am Not A Quitter"

I think that if everybody does what they are supposed to do, we can continue to play, have a credible season ... We think it's manageable.

Dave Sheinin, Washington Post, August 2, 2020:

Still under self-isolation at their Milwaukee hotel amid a weekend's worth of postponed games, the St. Louis Cardinals were bracing Sunday for more positive tests for the novel coronavirus as baseball's worst current outbreak deepens, potentially threatening more games in the coming week.

Multiple reports said the Cardinals were expecting additional positives when the latest results of testing arrive. It would be the latest in a string of new positive tests for the Cardinals, whose three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers was postponed ... [The Cardinals' four-game series against the Tigers was scheduled to be a home-and-home, but all four games will now played in Detroit, with a doubleheader scheduled for Wednesday]

The number of confirmed positives for the Cardinals is unknown and complicated by the fact the team is running rapid tests for its personnel at a hospital, in addition to the saliva tests being run through MLB's laboratory, and the results reportedly have not always agreed.

"[W]e do not anticipate having any updates until [Monday]," the Cardinals said in a statement Sunday night.

The Cardinals confirmed Saturday night that one player and three staff members tested positive but said an additional player and three additional staff members received results that were inconclusive. The infected personnel were heading back to St. Louis in cars, while the rest of the team's traveling party remained at the Milwaukee hotel.

The Cardinals' outbreak appears to be the second biggest in baseball, with the season only a week and a half old. The Miami Marlins had 18 players and two coaches test positive last week ...

All told, 19 games have been postponed.

Comissioner Rob Manfred tells me “We are playing. The players need to be better, but I am not a quitter in general and there is no reason to quit now. We have had to be fluid, but it is manageable.”

— Karl Ravech (@karlravechespn) August 1, 2020

Couching this in terms of being a "quitter" -- given the connotations and character judgments that entails in a sports context -- is predictably poor form from Manfred, especially on a day a major star opt-ed out. https://t.co/u4ei8rgAPg

— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) August 1, 2020

The more I think about this the more steamed I am. At best this the sort of thing we've heard from addle-minded public officials who speak of beating the pandemic via a good attitude or whatever. At worst it's a shot across the bow of any players who are considering opting out.

— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) August 1, 2020

Either way, it makes me less confident that Major League Baseball is going to make reasoned decisions based on the facts on the ground as opposed to doing everything it can, reasonable or not, in order to try to get the season in and then cast blame if they can't.

— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) August 1, 2020

Sacrifice the workers for the owners wealth, I think I’ve heard this sentiment before

— Paul Broos (@pbroos1) August 1, 2020

This statement is only 6 hours old and it’s already been subsumed by developments. The Cards are now shelved until Tuesday. 4 of their tests are “inconclusive.” A healthy Marlin bailed out.

Manfred blaming the players, when the owners’ plan is full of holes, is seedy and cheap. https://t.co/f4E33tUkr4

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) August 2, 2020

If only MLB had spent as much time developing a functional process, as they have blaming the players for not making the unworkable work. https://t.co/s9ndErFxEm

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) August 2, 2020

“Manageable,” says Commissioner Ostrich. https://t.co/PGiLGY0KJ2

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) August 2, 2020

Can we get another statement from Commissioner Ostrich https://t.co/HrbMoWyJiw

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) August 2, 2020

G10: Yankees 9, Red Sox 7

Red Sox - 203 010 100 - 7 10  1
Yankees - 032 010 03x - 9  9  1

Rafael Devers gave Boston a 7-6 lead with a home run in the seventh and Matt Barnes recorded the first two outs in the bottom of the eighth.

Barnes failed to retire #9 hitter Mike Tauchman, walking him on five pitches. Tauchman stole second. Barnes failed to retire DJ LeMahieu, who singled. Tauchman scored the tying run. And Barnes failed, in spectacular fashion, to retire Aaron Judge, who launched a 2-0 curveball an eye-popping 468 feet to left-center.

The Red Sox held (and lost) four leads on Sunday night: 2-0, 5-3, 6-5, and 7-6. Barnes stated the obvious afterwards.

[T]wo outs, nobody on, and the nine-hole hitter, can't walk him. Can't walk the nine-hole hitter to get to the top of their order.

Actually, it turns out you can - but you really shouldn't.

It was Judge's second home run of the night and his sixth of the season.

Trying to locate a 2-0 breaker down and away ... tried to locate it down there and certainly not put a hanging breaking ball middle up and in on him. Can't do that to a guy, one, who's locked in, and, two, who's got the power that he's got. Just a poor sequence of events there.

Again, "Barnesy", you can do that, but . . . oh, piss off.

The Red Sox are 3-7 and 5 GB in the AL East.

Manager Ron Roenicke thought it might "surprise people to be this far down already". Hmmm. Boston does not its top three starters from last season. One was traded, one had surgery, and one is infected with a dangerous virus that is also messing with his heart. That's a big hit for any team to absorb.

On the bright side, Xander Bogaerts went 4-for-4, hit two home runs, singled, doubled, scored three runs, and drove in three. Devers drove in two runs with a single and a home run.

Austin Brice / James Paxton

Pillar, LF
Devers, 3B
Martinez, RF
Bogaerts, SS
Vázquez, DH
Chavis, 1B
Plawecki, C
Bradley, CF
Peraza, 2B

In his first start of the season, Paxton threw 41 pitches and got three outs.

The Red Sox plan to fly to Florida (the hottest SARS-CoV-2 hotspot on the planet (9,642 new cases yesterday and about 7,000 new cases so far today)) after tonight's game.

They are off tomorrow and play in Tampa Bay on Tuesday and Wednesday.

More possible strangeness in a strange season:

The Mets:

As of game time, Yoenis Céspedes has not reported to the ballpark today. He did not reach out to management with any explanation for his absence. Our attempts to contact him have been unsuccessful.

Ken Rosenthal:

Mets have learned they have no reason to believe Cespedes’ safety is at risk, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

Update:

Yoenis Céspedes has opted out of the rest of the 2020 season for "COVID-related" reasons, according to Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen.

Jeff Passan (ESPN):

When Yoenis Cespedes didn't show up today, the Mets sent security to his room. They found it empty. He had taken his belongings, just up and left, and through his agent informed the team mid-game that he was opting out ..

"More Than Five" Additional Cardinals Test Positive (Did Players Go To A Casino?)

Updated: Manfred's latest reaction (in Ravech/Calcaterra tweet).

"More than five" additional Cardinals have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and today's Cardinals-Brewers has been postponed. That makes at least eight positives on the Cardinals. More test results are expected later today.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets that MLB has told its national TV partners they should have alternate programming ready in case games are postponed are next week.

The national TV partners of #MLB have indeed been told to have alternate programming ready next week in case games are postponed, as @KeithOlbermann reported.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) August 1, 2020

So, Rob, are we in a "nightmare" situation yet?

Couching this in terms of being a "quitter" -- given the connotations and character judgments that entails in a sports context -- is predictably poor form from Manfred, especially on a day a major star opt-ed out. https://t.co/u4ei8rgAPg

— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) August 1, 2020

Either way, it makes me less confident that Major League Baseball is going to make reasoned decisions based on the facts on the ground as opposed to doing everything it can, reasonable or not, in order to try to get the season in and then cast blame if they can't.

— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) August 1, 2020

(Yep. Baseball is fucked.)

After the first two positive cases on Thursday night, all Cardinals players and staff were told to self-isolate in their hotel rooms. But there are reports this morning that at least six members of the organization, including pitcher Carlos Martinez, broke the league's rules and went to a casino, albeit before the team's outbreak. The report comes from former player Jerry Hairston Jr.

A few Marlins go to a club & now hearin a few Cardinals went to a Casino? That’s not following protocols. #MLB Players are furious cause 28 other teams have worked hard to follow guidelines. #smh.

— Jerry Hairston, Jr. (@TheRealJHair) August 1, 2020

And now there's a rumor that St. Louis Cardinals went to a casino?

I know decisionmaking is frequently short-sighted for dudes in their 20s/30s (certainly I was included), but one would think the financial incentives were enough to just be willing to have a boring couple months.

— Dan Szymborski (@DSzymborski) August 1, 2020

The Marlins have been criticized for going to a strip club and the hotel bar in Atlanta two days before the season began. They have a total of 20 positive cases.

The Phillies had no new positive test results on Friday and have reopened its park to players for staggered workouts.

There have been a total of 128 positive tests, 104 players and 24 staff members.

Despite having health and safety protocols in place before the season began, MLB is making things up as it goes along, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

League officials say the system is improving, according to Rosenthal, but others in the game say it feels inconsistent and puzzling. MLB's responses have been inconsistent and contradictory. The Marlins and Phillies were allowed to play last weekend despite four positive cases (and the strong possibility that more existsed), but MLB cancelled other games last week despite no positives, saying it was exercising "an abundance of caution", despite throwing caution to the wind in a much more serious instance.

Rosenthal:

The original plan was to keep plowing forward, to absorb positive tests, plug in new players and accept any consequences, all to prevent the league from collapsing like a house of cards. Well, the house-of-cards analogy still applies, only now it feels to many in the game as though the league is playing with a different deck. MLB believes its adjustments are all in the name of safety, the objective that matters most. But as the sport evolves to this new plan, it's fair for people around the game to ask: Why wasn't it in place from the start?

Manfred Warns Union That 2020 Season Could Be Shut Down As Early As This Monday (If Positive Tests Increase)

Commissioner Rob Manfred says the 2020 baseball season could be shut down as soon as Monday, August 3, if players don't "do a better job of managing the coronavirus", according to reports of Manfred's phone call with Players Association executive director Tony Clark.

Leave it to Manfred to blame the union while giving the impression that he believes (or hopes) the extremely thick and dark clouds hovering over baseball will suddenly go away and the sun will come out and every day will be beautiful. Manfred's attitude is not unlike another incompetent guy who should not have been put in charge of anything, who wastes his time focusing on all the wrong things, and does nothing right. That other guy still believes the virus is going to vanish on its own one day, allowing him to receive all the praise and credit (but he cannot understand why it's taking so long).

Manfred might be correct in this case. Scott Miller of CBS Sports tweets that an MLB investigation

found the Marlins were very lapse in following protocols during Atlanta trip last weekend, players going out, players in hotel bar, etc. Lots of MLB people very unhappy with Miami

Jeff Passan, ESPN, July 31, 2020 (4:55 ET):

The league and players recognize the coming days are a critical juncture following an outbreak among the Miami Marlins in which 18 players and two coaches have tested positive for COVID-19. Two positive tests by St. Louis Cardinals players on Friday exacerbated concerns inside the sport about the presence of the coronavirus and whether the jointly agreed-upon protocols are being followed properly to prevent outbreaks similar to Miami's.

Should another outbreak materialize, Manfred, who has the power to shut down the season, could move in that direction. Multiple players briefed on the call fear the season could be shut down as soon as Monday if positive tests jump or if players continue not to strictly abide by the league's protocols.

State and local governments have pressured baseball about players skirting the mandates outlined in the league's 113-page operations manual, sources told ESPN. Broadcasts that have shown players high-fiving, spitting and not wearing masks have left government officials wondering how seriously players are taking the protocols, sources said.

Further, there is concern about off-the-field choices, with one high-ranking official saying: "There are some bad decisions being made."

The Cardinals' game against the Milwaukee Brewers was postponed Friday and rescheduled to a doubleheader Sunday. Already, the Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies, who last played Miami on Sunday, were missing scheduled games, leaving 20% of the league's Friday slate empty.

Phillies, Marlins, Cardinals Report Positives Tests; More Games Postponed; Hitchin' A Ride: Infected Marlins To Take 18-Hour Bus Ride

Two positives SARS-CoV-2 tests on the Cardinals have forced the postponement of tonight's Cardinals-Brewers game (Milwaukee's home opener). It has been rescheduled as part of a Sunday doubleheader. Tomorrow's game is still on the schedule.

Is MLB learning anything? That strategy was a disaster for the Marlins (playing the next day or waiting one day is the same thing, virus-wise), who reported yet another positive test, bringing the team's total to 20 (18 players and two staff members; 18 players is 60% of the 30-man roster). It will not be surprising if the Cardinals have additional positive tests tomorrow or Sunday or next week (if they play this weekend).

The Phillies reported a second positive test and have cancelled their next three games (Saturday doubleheader and Sunday game) against the Blue Jays. The Phillies have not played a game since last Sunday. If they play their next scheduled game (Monday in New York against the Yankees), it will be after seven days off.

The Blue Jays are also of until Monday. They plan to stay in Washington and work out at Nationals Park over the weekend and fly to Atlanta on Sunday night.

The Nationals' games in Miami tonight and this weekend have been postponed. Washington hosts the Mets next Tuesday (after four days off).

The Marlins are going to send their 20 infected employees (currently quarantined at a hotel in Philadelphia) back to Miami on a bus. Craig Calcaterra (NBC Sports):

It's about an 18 hour drive to Miami from Philadelphia. And no, I have no idea how you get someone to volunteer to drive a bus with a dozen and a [half] people infected with an outrageously contagious, untreatable and incurable disease 1,200 miles, but I have to assume there is some danger pay involved. Maybe the upside to this is that someone could write a pretty spiffy screenplay out of this ... Anyway, in case you think that the 2020 baseball season has not turned dystopian enough, we are about to have plague ships full of baseball players roaming the eastern seaboard.

Could the Miami Marlins win the NL East with a 2-1 record?

— Thomas O Minnema (@ThomasOMinnema) July 30, 2020

From The Dept. Of "You Do X, So You're Forbidden To Have An Opinion About Y":

The local police chief is still absolutely furious about a tweet from the Tampa Bay Rays calling for the arrest of the cops who killed Breonna Taylor, and has now threatened to withdraw his officers from providing security to the teamhttps://t.co/WaBw1IXpQu

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) July 31, 2020

The Players Union Drops To Manfred's Level Of Stupidity And Disregard For Baseball: All Doubleheader Games Will Be 7 Innings (Starting Saturday)

Pictured: Clown 1 and Clown 2.

... because science tells us the virus is much more contagious from the eighth inning on.

Well, it turns out it's not only Commissioner Rob Manfred who has an insatiable desire to turn baseball into an utter joke. MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark brought forth a proposal that all doubleheader games this season be reduced to seven innings, and MLB agreed.

While there are no planned doubleheaders on the schedule, making up postponed games because of current (and, no doubt, future) SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks and bad weather and probably locusts and frogs falling from the sky, there will be several twinbills over the next two months.

And, yes ... the Extra Inning Bullshit ("EIB") will start in the eighth inning of those games.

I can definitely see the EIB and seven-inning DHs becoming permanent. This is how it starts.

...

Let's see how the Chances Of MLB Driving Me Away From Baseball Forever Index is doing . . . It has increased to 30%.

Two Phillies Test Positive, All Activity At Home Park Stopped "Until Further Notice"

Looks like the Phillies were not spared after all.

A coach and a member of Philadelphia's clubhouse staff have both tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, which means all activity at Citizens Bank Park has been stopped "until further notice". Phillies center fielder Andrew McCutchen: "This really sucks."

The Phillies have canceled their weekend series against the Blue Jays. The Jays will stay in Washington this weekend after finishing a series with the Nationals tomorrow.

The Marlins reported yet another positive test, raising the team's total to 17 players and two coaches. (Seeing as it's Florida, has anyone suggested drinking demon semen smoothies?) While they wait for their schedule to resume, the Marlins are figuring out how to fill their half-empty roster.

Anyway, if you're in the area and have a glove and a face mask, perhaps you should give Capt. Intangibles a call.

The Union is getting feedback from players about having doubleheaders of only seven innings or nine innings for the opener and seven for the second game. A proposal might be made by Saturday (or the Union might come to its senses and drop the idea).

Angels manager Joe Maddon:

Right now, I don't think it's necessary based on how this season has been set up. If the doubleheaders were to pile up for whatever reason, I would have it like in a contingency plan. ... The sixth inning, the fifth inning play differently based on when the game is supposed to conclude. ... I get it from the perspective of expediency, if it's necessary. ... I'm not going to speak badly of any kind of suggestion right now that people believe is going to help us get through the season, get through the playoffs and conclude them.

Really? Not speak badly of any suggestion? Hell, why don't we just end the game as soon as one team scores? That will make for shorter games. ... Boom! Leadoff dong! Time of game: 0:01.

Oh, no! We've lost Jayson Stark!

"I love the new extra-inning rule!"

MLB's 2020 Protocol (113 Pages) Contains No Specifics Regarding Handling A Virus Outbreak (How Is That Possible?); Union Asks Players To Consider Seven-Inning Games For DHs

Another Marlins player has tested positive, Major League Baseball is encouraging (but not ordering) players not to leave hotels in road cities except for games, mandating the use of surgical masks instead of cloth masks during travel, and requiring every team to travel with a compliance officer who ensures players and staff properly follow the league's protocol, which would seem to contradict MLB's mere "encouragement" to not wander around in public before or after games. 

ESPN's Jeff Passan writes: 

Nowhere does the 113-page protocol that governs the 2020 season explicitly address how the league would handle a coronavirus outbreak, let alone one the magnitude of the Marlins'. It offers neither a threshold of cases to shut down a team nor a scenario that would cause a pause in the season. For a document as detailed and pedantic as MLB's operations manual, the lack of specificity on literally the entire reason for its existence -- the presence of a global pandemic -- has been a glaring omission, multiple general managers said leading up to the season. 

It also was intentional, with the league seeking flexibility in its actions. The virus' infiltration of the Marlins this week proved seminal, finally putting a number on the lowest figure baseball is willing to stomach without shutting down operations beyond the heart of an outbreak: 18 positive tests, including 16 players -- 48% of those traveling with the team. 

From the moment MLB committed to holding its season outside of a bubble and sending hundreds of people on the road every day, this was, if not inevitable, then at least expected. And yet the volume of Marlins personnel with COVID-19 still shook league officials who had hoped outbreaks would top off at half that size. For all the rigor MLB took with its protocol, the virus beat it in one place on the season's first weekend. 

The fallout is only beginning. ... This is pandemic baseball: A schedule is a schedule until it's not. ... As much as Manfred stood behind the protocol Monday ... here is the truth: The rules meant to protect players and keep them safe could not prevent a spectacular outbreak. ... 

Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic reports:

Sources: Union is asking players to consider rules adjustments to maximize their health, according to a memo sent today. On doubleheaders, consideration is a 9-inning & 7-inning game or two 7-inning games. On rosters, question is whether to extend 30-man limit for additional time.

Because the virus really only gets busy in the eighth inning?

Christ. Please cancel the season before shortening games to seven innings. Please.

MLB Postpones All Marlins Games Through Sunday

Major League Baseball has hit the pause button with respect to the Miami Marlins, postponing all of their games through Sunday. That's a total of six games.

In addition, the remaining three games of the home-and-home series between the Phillies and Yankees have been postponed (tonight in Philadelphia and Wednesday and Thursday in New York). The Yankees will instead go to Baltimore for two games (Wednesday and Thursday) against the Orioles, who had been scheduled to host the Marlins this week.

The Nationals were scheduled to play a three-game series this Friday and weekend in Miami. That will not happen. The postponement of that series avoids a possible confrontation between Commissioner Rob Manfred and the Nationals player, who voted in near-unanimity earlier today against going to Miami.

"Vast Majority" Of Nationals Vote Against Traveling To Miami This Weekend, Setting Up Possible Wildcat Strike & Confrontation With Manfred

A "vast majority" of Washington Nationals players have voted against traveling to Miami this weekend for a three-game series against the Marlins.

However, teams do not have a right to not play games if they think it's unsafe, according to the agreed-upon health and safety guidelines. If the Nationals refuse to play, they will be engaging in a wildcat strike.

Commissioner Rob Manfred's big-ass problem just got much, much bigger.

Will he allow the Nationals to strike, completely undercutting his authority? Or will Manfred order the Nationals to play, showing the players on the other 29 teams that he doesn't care one whit about their health?

On Tuesday morning, four more Marlins tested positive, bringing the team's total to 18 (15 players and three coaches, out of a reported group of 33 people). There are doubts the Marlins will be able to field a team for tomorrow night's scheduled game in Baltimore.

As Craig Calcaterra writes, MLB's response to the pandemic "is mirroring what has happened with America: a lack of strong, clear guidance from above has resulted in reactive, ad-hoc measures below, leading to inconsistency and confusion."

If Manfred and the club owners refuse to make the health and safety of the players and coaches the absolute top priority, the players must take matters into their own hands.

As expected, tonight's Yankees-Phillies game in Philadelphia has been postponed. But all games scheduled for Wednesday are still on.

Vox's Aaron Rupar spoke at length with Dr. Zachary Binney, an epidemiologist at Oxford College of Emory University. It should be read in its entirety.

Can we just have a moment of shared humanity here? A potentially serious virus is ripping through your clubhouse that's part of a broader global pandemic. Can we hit pause here for a minute? Can we deal with that? Can we deal with the psychological fallout and the stress from that? I mean, some coaches are infected. Depending on who they are, there's no guarantee that they're going to be fine. There's no guarantee that all the players will be fine ...

MLB needs to step in and put on its big boy pants and be the adult in the room and recognize that. I would say for two weeks. One day is laughable. If they try to take anybody from that traveling party and have them play Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday, I don't even have words for how reckless that would be. They know there's a good chance some of them are sick, and they put them on the field anyway? They would just be declaring that they don't care. They don't care about the health of their athletes or their coaches, or the Marlins' opponents — the Orioles — they don't care. And the Orioles, by the way, would be stating that they don't care about the people of Baltimore if that game happened, because they would be bringing in a group with a known raging outbreak to stay in a local hotel.

So everybody needs to take a minute, take a step back, and look at themselves in the mirror for God's sake. We are people — can we act like it for a minute?

Manfred: Protocol Was Followed With Marlins; Will Proceed With Games On Wednesday If Tests From Monday Are Negative (One Infectious Disease Expert Called That Decision "Absolutely Insane" & Literally The "Stupidest Possible Plan")

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred addressed the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak among the Marlins, in an interview with Tom Verducci on the MLB Network.

Manfred said that if additional tests of the Marlins players are acceptable, the Marlins and Orioles would play on Wednesday in Baltimore. MLB may receive test results from the Marlins and Phillies late Monday night.

We're waiting to see exactly what we get in terms of test results before we make a decision. 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.

That plan was described as both "absolutely insane" and the "stupidest possible plan" by Dr. Zachary Binney, an epidemiologist at Emory University's Oxford College. Binney urged MLB:

Show even a shred of self-reflection and humanity. At least fake it. Who are your medical and public health advisors? Where are they?

Binney thinks MLB must make sure to confine the "ongoing outbreak" to one (or two) teams - and should order the Marlins and Phillies to stay in quarantine for at least five days to see if more cases appear. Even if all the tests from Monday come back negative, Binney said "that's no guarantee that the virus isn't sneaking through that locker room right now".

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

The Marlins Timeline: Testing on Friday revealed one positive result on Saturday. Testing on Saturday revealed three more positives on Sunday.

Manfred:

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. They were quarantined; we ordered additional testing, we did symptom checks. We did temperature checks and decided to proceed with the game on Sunday.

The testing on Sunday revealed 10 positive results on Monday. ... Did MLB also do contact tracing on that "small number" of players? Also, "symptom checks" are worthless if players are asymptomatic.

1 ... 3 ... 10 ... What will Monday's tests reveal?

Manfred said he spoke with all 30 owners during a conference call on Monday and the possibility of canceling the season or even putting it on hold was not discussed.

We talked about the situation. I think most of the owners realize that we built protocols anticipating that we would have positive tests at some point during the season, that the protocols were built in order to allow us to continue to play through those positives. I think there was support for the notion that we believe that the protocols are adequate to keep our players safe. ... I remain optimistic that the protocols are strong enough that it will allow us to continue to play -- even through an outbreak like this -- and complete our season.

Manfred was asked what it would take for him to consider shutting down a team or a portion of the schedule:

I think that a team losing a number of players that rendered it completely non-competitive would be an issue that we would have to address and have to think about making a change. Whether that was shutting down a part of the season, the whole season, that depends on the circumstances. Same thing with respect to league-wide; you get to a certain point league-wide where it does become a health threat and we certainly would shut down at that point.

Keep in mind that 40% of the Marlins roster has already tested positive.

I have not seen any statements from the Players Association, which seems odd. Perhaps I missed them.

Manfred said the decisions that have been made are the right ones. Iin every case. Maybe it's me, but from just reading his quotes, I could not help but get a certain Trumpian vibe of obstinacy.

Seeing the decisions from Manfred's conference call with the owners, such as the owners intending to "redouble health directives" and "reinforce on-field behavior prohibitions" against high fives and fist bumps only confirms the feeling.

Infectious Diseases Professor: MLB's Plan "Was Designed To Fail And They Went Through With It Anyways ... Anyone Who Knows Anything About [Infectious Diseases] Could Have Anticipated This ... Baseball Is In Huge Trouble"; Having Marlins Play On Wednesday "Is The Stupidest Possible Plan, Absolutely Insane"

Updated!

Dr. Andrew Morris, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Toronto, says the outbreak among the Miami Marlins is not a surprise because MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred's plan was seriously flawed.

Baseball is in huge trouble, huge trouble. It makes me wonder if they are listening to the advice of experts or whether their experts are giving them good advice. This was not a plan anyone who knows what they are talking about would have conceived. It's playing out like it was supposed to play out.

Morris:

Anyone who knows anything about this problem and infectious disease epidemiology could have anticipated this. This plan was designed to fail and they went through with it anyways. ...

The sports broadcasting industry has a conflict of interest. They are interested in a good product and minimizing the whole COVID situation. You are not going to hear good commentary from people who have the most interest in sports continuing on. ...

There are Lou Williams type stories in MLB that we are just not hearing about because they are not tightly controlling their players as the NBA is trying to do. It's going to end with a headline saying the first player is admitted to the intensive care unit.

Oh. https://t.co/fHr8O5etO7

— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) July 27, 2020

Craig Calcaterra (NBC Sports) writes:

Major League Baseball needs to be suspended immediately. Rob Manfred needs to answer for why he allowed the Marlins-Phillies game to take place yesterday in such dangerous conditions. Then, in my view, he needs to resign.

More:

Either MLB's protocols have no data-driven mechanisms or decision-making hierarchy via which games are postponed, or else it has them but they were allowed to be ignored. It has to be one or the other because "Miguel Rojas decides via group text" is probably not in the manual. ...

Seriously: Which is it? Did the league fail to plan for the eventuality of four guys on a team testing positive before a game or did it plan for it only to allow a team to ignore its plans because they wanted to "play hard?" ...

Some players are liking "they should cancel the season" tweets. Managers are not-subtly hinting that they want games canceled. MLB can't just set some random rules about how to pivot from today. They're losing the confidence of the people in harm's way.

A statement from Marlins CEO Derek Jeter raises numerous questions.

The health of our players and staff has been and will continue to be our primary focus ... [W]e now have experienced challenges ... take a collective pause ... properly grasp the totality of this situation. ... We have conducted another round of testing ... will provide additional information as it becomes available.

As Calcaterra explains:

The "____ is our top priority" form of corporate statement is always — always — deployed when the thing the business is claiming to be its top priority has been manifestly compromised. ... It's become such a cliche that it's hard to take that bit of businesspeak even remotely seriously.

What I'd like to hear is why the Marlins played a game with over 10% of its roster having tested positive and a bunch of other tests outstanding. What was the protocol that was followed and what, if anything, might have caused them to cancel that game if not the situation present at the time. Why, as Don Mattingly said, was the idea of cancelling the game "never considered" before today's Marlins COVID-19 outbreak?

I don't ask this rhetorically. ... It's something, in light of today's events, that should be a lot more transparent than it is. I bet it's something a lot of players want to know too.

Dr. Zachary Binney, an epidemiologist at Emory University’s Oxford College, on the plan to have the Marlins and Orioles play in Baltimore on Wednesday:

This is absolutely insane ... if possible, the literal stupidest possible plan. 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! ...

MLB needs to act aggressively now, to hope that you have kept the outbreak contained to the Marlins. ... What you really don't want is it jumping to other clubs because they're traveling and playing other opponents. So two teams is a lot harder to control than one team. And three teams would be even harder. And you really want to stop it from getting to that point. ...

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. ...

The only remaining right move, I think, is to wait about five days to see if any cases pop up on the Phillies, because just testing them yesterday or today — the virus takes time to show up. So even if every Phillies player, coach and staff member tests negative, that's no guarantee that the virus isn't sneaking through that locker room right now. The hard, cold truth is, you have to wait a few days to see what's going to happen in the Phillies' locker room before you can be confident one way or the other. So I'm saying either risk it and play on or wait five days. But waiting only one day doesn't really make a lot of sense to me.

One team executive:

My concern was there would be a false sense of security rolling into the season, guys getting comfortable and letting their guard down. This is way more than a wake-up call. This is a big deal. In the blink of an eye, it can change. Here is the blink of an eye. And boy, did it change.

Nationals manager Davey Martinez:

My level of concern went from an 8 to a 12. ... It hits home now. I got friends on that Miami team. It really stinks. ...I have guys in my clubhouse who are really concerned as well.

Dodgers pitcher David Price:

Now we REALLY get to see if MLB is going to put players health first. Remember when Manfred said players health was PARAMOUNT?! Part of the reason I'm at home right now is because players health wasn't being put first. I can see that hasn't changed.

Manfred et al. will not be able to run out the clock on this debacle. It will not go away in the next news cycle. It's not a trivial matter, like sign-stealing.

It is literally life and death.