For a season filled with unknowns, MLB will have many decisions to make. One is when and if the coronavirus affects too many teams, when will it be time to shut down the season? What do we do if all teams don’t complete all the games in a 2020 shortened season? These are just a few of the decisions that will have to be made.
Buster Olney of ESPN has an answer to that last question:
“If MLB continues to try to move forward with games — and that is the expectation with a lot of teams — they shouldn’t worry about the ‘integrity’ of a 60-game schedule. If some teams play 55 games, others 59 or 60, just go by winning percentage. This happened after 1981 strike.”
The decision to shut down the entire season will be a much harder one to make. Matt Collins of overthemonster.com is calling to the season to be shut down now so that things don’t get worse.
“The MLB season is three games old after a long delay into the summer, and it already looks like it’s time to shut things down. Just one series into the year, we already have a major outbreak from a team that still decided to play on Sunday. The Marlins, after already having multiple players and coaches test positive over the weekend, had eight more players and two more coaches test positive for COVID-19 Monday morning.”
Jeff Passan of ESPN reported:
The MLB season is three games old after a long delay into the summer, and it already looks like it’s time to shut things down. Just one series into the year, we already have a major outbreak from a team that still decided to play on Sunday. The Marlins, after already having multiple players and coaches test positive over the weekend, had eight more players and two more coaches test positive for COVID-19 Monday morning.
It is doubtful that this first hit of the virus will shut down the season at least at first. Much will be dependent on how they control the virus and if more and more cases start popping up. Most MLB teams are committed to a baseball season this year. The New York Yankees are focused on a World Series Championship.
The Marlins seem committed as well even after this disaster they have suffered this weekend. They are already out there scrambling around trying to find baseball players to fill spots vacated by sick players. Early this afternoon, they claimed RHP Justin Shafer from the Cinncinatti Reds. They will use some prospects, but they have more holes to fill.
If nothing else, this season will go down in history as the strangest of all baseball seasons. Let’s hope the MLB can get this present outbreak under control and can complete this short baseball season.