Is your season in jeopardy? What the Marlins coronavirus outbreak means to the team, and MLB

Major League Baseball is seeing its first coronavirus cancellations since the 2020 season restart.

A COVID-19 outbreak spread throughout the Miami Marlins clubhouse, bringing the total number of cases in the past few days to at least 13, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers. As a result, the Marlins postponed their first game, scheduled for Monday night; The game between the New York Yankees and the Phillies in Philadelphia, where the Marlins played over the weekend, was also postponed.

So what does this situation mean for the Marlins and the Major Leagues? We asked our experts to rate some of the most important questions.

Does the Marlins’ outbreak of positive cases jeopardize their season?

Of course, but that’s why there is a squad of taxis of up to 30 players. If the league is going to continue playing, then it’s the next man, as hard as it is to believe. There really is no other option. If the Marlins’ season is in jeopardy, then the entire league is, too. – Jesse Rogers

What does the Marlins outbreak mean for the state of the MLB season as a whole?

We will only be able to answer this precisely in hindsight, though it looms as a possibility that Monday’s news is a turning point with ramifications not just for the rest of this season, but for all major team sports trying to try what MLB is already trying to do it. For now, this is baseball’s first major test of its ability to organize the 2020 season, and it’s more than a little daunting that there are only 92 games in the books. Baseball couldn’t get through its first weekend without a possible nightmare scenario.

First, we await test results for the Phillies and their stadium staff and referee teams for the weekend, among others. We’ll see how widespread the breakup is among the Marlins, and once we do, we’ll determine if they can plausibly, and for sure, deploy a viable active roster of their 60-player pool. We will cross our fingers and hope that players and coaches who have already tested positive do not experience symptoms, or if they do, they are mild and short-lived.

When we know if the Marlins can continue playing, we will know much more about the viability of continuing the season. Because what is already an outbreak of 13 people is the exact type of situation for which the MLB protocol system was designed to prevent, to the extent that everything related to COVID-19 is preventable.

It is also important that MLB is transparent with the decisions it makes in reaction to this situation. If medical experts tell you it’s just too dangerous for the Marlins to continue, then the newest moment of baseball’s truth will be at hand. – Bradford Doolittle

Could this affect other teams beyond the Marlins?

The Marlins played in Atlanta before going to Philadelphia. They played three games against the Phillies, occupying the visiting club’s headquarters at Citizens Bank Park, where the Yankees were due to settle on Monday. The Marlins were slated to play the Orioles, who, presumably, are already in Miami. The Braves just finished a three-game series against the Mets, just after their exhibition games against the Marlins. Meanwhile, the Mets are heading to Boston to start a series Monday night at Fenway Park.

Hopefully, this outbreak is limited to the Marlins. However, you can easily see how a team’s outbreak can cause the entire card house to crumble. For now, we already know that Monday’s Yankees and Phillies game has been postponed, so at least those two teams have been tangibly affected in addition to the Marlins. – Doolittle

Will MLB try to invent these games or are they canceled?

We don’t know any details in terms of makeup dates, but the press release sent out Monday morning by MLB labeled the Marlins-Orioles and Yankees-Phillies games as postponements. So, for now, there seems to be an intention to find a way to get the games at some point. – Doolittle

With the tight schedule to start games, is there room to make up for canceled games due to positive testing or other unique circumstances?

Each team’s schedule has six days off incorporated, not including a day for clubs that did not play in one of the first two games on Thursday. However, opportunities to invent a game are limited by the schedule format and the need to limit the number of trips each team makes. Teams are also limited at the end of the schedule, as there is only one day between the end of the regular season and the start of the group of 16 teams.

Just to illustrate the puzzle with Miami and Baltimore: The Marlins and Orioles were supposed to play two games in Miami, then proceed directly to Baltimore for the Camden Yards games on Wednesday and Thursday. These are the only scheduled clashes between the teams, which have mutual days off on August 10 and September 3. Again: Do you want the teams to take an additional trip to get together for a makeup game? The Orioles’ only other trip to Florida is scheduled for Aug. 25-27 in Tampa Bay; Baltimore has a day off before the series begins, but the Marlins will be out of town.

The only obvious possibility is to schedule a double header sometime this week, or maybe even two of them. That doesn’t seem like an excellent or plausible option, as there is much to be resolved in terms of the consequences of the Marlins outbreak.

If the Phillies and Yankees are cleared to play Tuesday, a double game may be possible for them. Also, there is a mutual day off on August 24. That day, the Yankees are scheduled to go from New York to Atlanta, while the Phillies will go from Atlanta to Washington. Perhaps they could meet in Philadelphia. Maybe.

However, if you look at the logistics of the schedule right now, inventing games is a secondary matter in determining how serious this outbreak is and which teams, club staff and umpires have been affected. – Doolittle

Could the Marlins just pull players out of their taxi squad and continue playing?

Yes, that was the goal of the taxi squad, but it might not be feasible if half or more of your list is infected. It is still the most likely scenario, because the other option is to close. – Rogers

Why were the Marlins allowed to play the Phillies on Sunday after multiple players tested positive?

There is no rule that players cannot participate while waiting for the test results. But playing could have been a mistake.

That Miami had multiple positives before Sunday’s game and that the contest continued as scheduled is troubling. Perhaps any time it happens, it should trigger an automatic postponement. Another red flag here is that even if you test every day, people don’t necessarily have symptoms or trigger positive tests right away. Inevitably, infected players will go out onto the field with no one, including themselves, knowing that they have contracted the virus.

To say that this delay is problematic would be a massive understatement. But, of course, that’s where all the other protocols (masking, distancing, disinfection) take on additional importance. The only step baseball has not taken is to make masks mandatory at all times, even on the field. And while that might be the next step, we still don’t know how the Marlins outbreak started and if some sort of masquerade mandate in the field had made a difference. Where did it happen? Airport? Airplane? Trip by bus? Hotel lobby? Toilet area? – Doolittle

Could this lead to more players leaving the season?

It seems likely, but perhaps those who have already made the decision to play will be determined to move on. However, given the number of players, coaches, and coaches in baseball, there must be people thinking about whether to take the risk. A team-wide outbreak four days after the season could convince some people that the risk is too great. – Doolittle