2020 MLB thread

[JPhillips]

Shouldn't the whole team and staff for the Marlins be on 14 day quarantine?

With the Marlins, it's kind of who cares, but what happens when this happens to a playoff caliber team?

[molson]

Everybody's a playoff-caliber team this year, you only have to win what, maybe 25 out of 60 games to get there?

I think they're going to try to push ahead. Or I could see them postponing again and trying the bubble at domed stadiums and warm weather sites in October/November.

[ISiddiqui]

The games are jam packed against each other already. If games start getting postponed (2 games postponed tonight), it's going to be hard to see how they can fit all the games in. Especially since they seem to really be wary of jamming in double headers due to concerns about injury.

[henry296]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Shouldn't the whole team and staff for the Marlins be on 14 day quarantine?

With the Marlins, it's kind of who cares, but what happens when this happens to a playoff caliber team?

Isn't this part of the reason why there is another 30 players who have been isolated?

As for the 14 day quarantine, I'm not sure since they have been tested and shouldn't that clear them? Perhaps by waiting another day you can get that second negative test that enables are positive player to return.

[JPhillips]

The problems are the time it takes to show enough virus to be positive and false negatives. Maybe 14 days is too long, but testing negative today and tomorrow I'm pretty sure isn't good enough.

[Ksyrup]

I cannot believe that MLB and the Marlins allowed the players to decide if they were going to play yesterday with knowledge that 3-4 players had tested positive. One would think that would have been Rule #1 once a positive test occurred - the league decides what happens. That Don Mattingly and the players voted on whether to play is ridiculous.

How could they leave it to the players? Is the NFL going to go back to the old "do you have a concussion" test to decide is a player can go back into a game?

What a joke.

[Jas_lov]

I wonder if they've considered having the Yankees play the Orioles Tues-Thurs and change the schedule later. Might as well quarantine Philly and Miami until Friday at least.

[Lathum]

After the Mets 976-1 loss last night I think I am good with the season being nuked.

[Ksyrup]

The fact that the Marlins basically let their SS decide whether to play - and that he said yes in the midst of a 7-for-10 start to the season... purely coincidence, I'm sure.

[cuervo72]

Just keep reshuffling the schedule and eventually declare the last team to sustain an outbreak the champion.

[PilotMan]

Man, Kimbrel did not have a good night tonight. Dude comes in with a 3 run lead, walks 4 and hits 1, leaves with the winning run on 2nd and one out. Reds were down 8-1 at one point.

[Coffee Warlord]

Kimbrel wasn't very good last year, either. He was spectacularly bad tonight.

Cubs need a closer bad. Kimbrel hasn't had it since he came to Chicago.

[Lathum]

ESPN reporting majority of Nationals players have voted against travelling to Florida to play their weekend series vs the Marlins. If this is how it is going to be just pull the plug on the season. An outbreak for one team has now effected 5 different teams.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Lathum

ESPN reporting majority of Nationals players have voted against travelling to Florida to play their weekend series vs the Marlins. If this is how it is going to be just pull the plug on the season. An outbreak for one team has now effected 5 different teams.

Meh, let's just wait and see what Miguel Rojas thinks.

Also, oh hey, reportedly a CBP visiting clubhouse staff member tested positive in a previous round of testing over the weekend.

The more I see of this the more MLB is negligent. (To no one's surprise.) inquirer.com/phillies/miami-marlins-coronavirus-outbreak-phillies-mlb-season-20200727.html

“There was testing on Friday, one positive on Saturday, testing again on Saturday, and the three additional positives on Sunday,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said on MLB Network. “What then happened, under the protocols, was we did contact tracing on all four positives. There were, I think, a small number of players who met the CDC guidelines. They were quarantined. We did additional testing. We did symptom checks. We did temperature checks and decided to proceed with the game on Sunday.”

The operations manual says that after a player tests positive for COVID-19, the club must conduct contact tracing to identify the individuals who had close contact with the infected individual. The Marlins flew together to Philadelphia from Atlanta, traveled by bus to a Center City hotel, traveled by bus to the ballpark, dressed in the clubhouse, and sat in the dugout.

I'm no CDC expert, but you know who should have been quarantined pending testing? EVERYONE WHO WAS ON A PLANE AND IN A CLUBHOUSE TOGETHER WITH THE INFECTED PEOPLE.

The one silver lining I'm seeing is that none of the Phillies have tested positive even though it's basically a guarantee they played a game against multiple COVID-positive players. That tracks with the science we've seen indicating being in a confined space (like say, a plane, or a clubhouse) is really bad, but being outside with extremely minimal surface contact is safe. Football & basketball definitely have more close contact, but that's still good for the risk of cross-contamination.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Lathum

ESPN reporting majority of Nationals players have voted against travelling to Florida to play their weekend series vs the Marlins. If this is how it is going to be just pull the plug on the season. An outbreak for one team has now effected 5 different teams.

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

The more I see of this the more MLB is negligent. (To no one's surprise.) inquirer.com/phillies/miami-marlins-coronavirus-outbreak-phillies-mlb-season-20200727.html I'm no CDC expert, but you know who should have been quarantined pending testing? EVERYONE WHO WAS ON A PLANE AND IN A CLUBHOUSE TOGETHER WITH THE INFECTED PEOPLE.

The one silver lining I'm seeing is that none of the Phillies have tested positive even though it's basically a guarantee they played a game against multiple COVID-positive players. That tracks with the science we've seen indicating being in a confined space (like say, a plane, or a clubhouse) is really bad, but being outside with extremely minimal surface contact is safe. Football & basketball definitely have more close contact, but that's still good for the risk of cross-contamination.

I mostly agree with this, though I'd feel a lot better about the accuracy of the testing in about a week or 10 days, what with the incubation period and all.

SI

[ISiddiqui]

So the Marlins season has been temporarily paused.

How does that work?

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

So the Marlins season has been temporarily paused.

How does that work?

If the Marlins season is temporarily paused in an empty stadium, does it make a sound?

SI

[Ksyrup]

Well, the Marlins won't play at least until Monday, so MLB sidesteps the Nationals mutiny for the time being.

EDIT to add another 7 days, I guess?

JUST IN: Miami-Dade @MayorGimenez says the Marlins should follow the 14-day quarantine protocol when returning to South Florida after they were knowingly exposed to COVID-19.

— Andy Slater (@AndySlater) July 28, 2020

[GrantDawg]

Ummmmm....how can the Marlins possibly make up that many games? Have they in effect forfeited their season?

[JPhillips]

My new goal is to have MLB choose playoff spots by win percentage rather than games won, and for the Marlins to get the last spot after only playing forty or so games.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

My new goal is to have MLB choose playoff spots by win percentage rather than games won, and for the Marlins to get the last spot after only playing forty or so games.

Girardi was on MLB radio today saying thats what could happen with regards to win percentage.

[JPhillips]

The Marlins at 21-19 over the Cardinals at 31-29 would be my personal favorite.

[Lathum]

In a weird way I think this Marlins thing could be a positive for the season. If none of the Phillies test positive it shows that there is really zero transmission from team to team on the playing field.

[Lathum]

Disappointed in Buehler that he didn't drill anyone.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Disappointed in Buehler that he didn't drill anyone.

[MrBug708]

That suspension is complete nonsense. 8 games which is 22 games of a regular season, for not even hitting him? The Astros were the first to even start it in the game yesterday. So obnoxious by Manfred

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

That suspension is complete nonsense. 8 games which is 22 games of a regular season, for not even hitting him? The Astros were the first to even start it in the game yesterday. So obnoxious by Manfred

That's total Bullshit, really a greater punishment than the Astro's got in equivalency. Let's protect the cheaters.

[MrBug708]

https://twitter.com/Weave1036/status...97850977210369

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

https://twitter.com/Weave1036/status...97850977210369

I'm not big on beanings but he has a point. Players are going to take it into their own hands if the league doesn't suspend players for cheating.

[Carman Bulldog]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I'm not big on beanings but he has a point. Players are going to take it into their own hands if the league doesn't suspend players for cheating.

No they won't, not if they are going to face an 8 game suspension in a 60 game season for trying.

Also kind of ironic that it's Joe Kelly who is throwing at guys, considering sign stealing helped get him a World Series ring in 2018. I mean, he can feel free to return that ring anytime if he's so upset about it all.

[JPhillips]

Sports are more entertaining when there's some hate.

[Carman Bulldog]

Not to mention that Joe Kelly initially called the investigation into the 2018 Red Sox cheating a debacle, saying that the Sox were so good that they wouldn't have lost an inning if they had cheated.

The data however actually suggests that the Red Sox 2018 cheating scandal was worth 5 wins over the course of the season, the same amount that the Astros 2017 cheating scandal was worth (so I suppose he's correct in that the punishments or lack thereof was a debacle).

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

That suspension is complete nonsense. 8 games which is 22 games of a regular season, for not even hitting him? The Astros were the first to even start it in the game yesterday. So obnoxious by Manfred

Steve Phillips had an interesting take on this today on MLB Network. If this was a normal year on July 28th and he did this and got 8 games there would still only be 60 games left in the season and it would be the same ratio.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Steve Phillips had an interesting take on this today on MLB Network. If this was a normal year on July 28th and he did this and got 8 games there would still only be 60 games left in the season and it would be the same ratio.

It's how I'm convincing myself the Royals aren't totally out of it yet. It's almost the end of July and they're only 2.5 GB! The last time they were this good, it was 2017.

Spoiler

I choose to ignore the .333 winning percentage.

SI

[PilotMan]

Extra inning rules are not awesome, but not as bad as I expected either. I'd still rather the approach to the innings change than the game itself change.

[Ksyrup]

If you've had kids play travel ball, you're used to the ITB rule. I don't mind it at all.

[JPhillips]

One coach and one clubhouse staff member for the Phillies tested positive.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Steve Phillips had an interesting take on this today on MLB Network. If this was a normal year on July 28th and he did this and got 8 games there would still only be 60 games left in the season and it would be the same ratio.

Juan Marichal got 8 games for taking a bat to the head of a player.

Im curious as to what the biggest suspension is for an in-game antic, that didn't result in ejection in the actual game.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Im curious as to what the biggest suspension is for an in-game antic, that didn't result in ejection in the actual game.

Keona Kela was suspended 10 games for throwing at Derek Deitrich last year and this isn't Joe Kelly's first offense.

Originally Posted by MrBug708

That suspension is complete nonsense. 8 games which is 22 games of a regular season, for not even hitting him?

The length of the season shouldn't matter when it comes to suspensions. If someone tests postive for PEDs they're not going to suspend them for 30 games because the season is only 60 games. They're still getting an 80 game suspension.

I also don't buy the notion that this was simply because MLB refused to suspend Astros players. If the Astros players had been suspended the Dodgers and other teams would still want their piece.

[PilotMan]

I ain't worried, the Astros WILL get what's coming to them.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

One coach and one clubhouse staff member for the Phillies tested positive.

Well, damn. There goes the "Phils are fine so maybe we can just insulate this to the Marlins" idea

SI

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Atocep

Keona Kela was suspended 10 games for throwing at Derek Deitrich last year and this isn't Joe Kelly's first offense.

Was the same the incident where Jared Hughes was suspended 3 games for intentionally throwing at someone?

We've also never heard as to why Dave Roberts was suspended. Nor why the Astros weren't suspended for leaving the dugout and violating protocol by ignoring social distance rules by crossing the field and trying to start a fight.

Originally Posted by Atocep

I also don't buy the notion that this was simply because MLB refused to suspend Astros players. If the Astros players had been suspended the Dodgers and other teams would still want their piece.

Neither do I. It's mostly because the lack of any sort of genuine remorse for taking part in the cheating.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

We've also never heard as to why Dave Roberts was suspended. Nor why the Astros weren't suspended for leaving the dugout and violating protocol by ignoring social distance rules by crossing the field and trying to start a fight.

.

The managers get the punishment for players leaving the dugout, though if that is the case Baker should have been suspended one game too. The fact remains though, the Astro's made their bed, got off light and now MLB is protecting them from retaliation they should expect and deal with.

[bhlloy]

If 2 members of the non-playing staff testing positive (and I’m not for a second suggesting this is the wrong approach) causes a series to get postponed, how exactly was MLB ever planning to get through the season?

[JPhillips]

MLB and the players have agreed on 7 inning double-headers starting Aug 1.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

MLB and the players have agreed on 7 inning double-headers starting Aug 1.

This may be their answer to the problem of the long games and peoples llack of attention. Plus, that is selling 2 tickets everyday.

This idea could be a gold mine for the owners.

[Ksyrup]

I think they've agreed to this because of all the potential makeup games.

[kingfc22]

Let’s just make the fences 225 feet and call it beer league softball while we’re at it.

[Atocep]

Have I told you how bad the Cano/Diaz trade was?