Major League Baseball has run into a bit of a problem with the Coronavirus. On two baseball teams there have been minor coronavirus issues, but the Miami Marlins have now had major coronavirus issues with 14 of their staff members testing positive for the virus.
This now begs the question on not if season will be cancelled, but when? Or, maybe it is a different world then it was in March of 2020. Or, Major League Baseball has a plan for this happening. Maybe the baseball season will not be cancelled because we have minor league players who could fill in for the Marlins. Overall, baseball is in trouble and there is no correct answer on how to handle this situation.
Juan Soto of the Washington Nationals has not played a game yet after receiving the virus Thursday afternoon. Soto has a career batting average of .287 and a career OPS of .937. If Soto had played, would the Nationals have more wins? Nobody knows the answer to that, but Washington definitely missed him this past weekend.
The Miami Marlins had 14 staff members test positive for the virus over the weekend. That amount of people is not a Juan Soto, it is a lot of important members of your team unable to play baseball or work because of the Coronavirus. The Marlins are having issues all around their organization because of the virus and the Nationals just had one really good player test positive. It is two different situations.
Due to the Marlins staff members receiving positive tests for the virus, tonight’s Marlins and Orioles game in Miami is postponed and the Yankees and Phillies game in Philadelphia scheduled for tonight is postponed.
I couldn’t make up my mind on what Major League Baseball should do. I asked multiple 12oz sports network personalities a simple question in the group chat today. If you were the Major League Baseball Commissioner what would you do? I got a variety of answers from
Mitch Bernstein from “The Bern with Mitch” said: “If any other team has an outbreak, I don’t see how you can continue the season. Players and their families can only take so much.
Minor League Rando from “Talkin Minors” said: “Keep the Marlins quarantined and send in replacements.”
Beck who is the Owner, Janitor and Accountant for 12oz Sports said: “Many players already had a problem being separated by family to play. Shut it down.”
Lou Gamelin from “The Captain Lou Extravaganza”said: “I think they almost need to go to a doubleheader format and then test afterwards. Gives a day for results.”
Mike from “Mike Said it First” said:“If the MLB was a world class organization like the NBA, they would be okay. Cancel the season.”
All of these personalities gave good answer and great responses. The one person or show’s answer who I agree with the most is The Sports Stance.
They said “I continue the season for now, the Marlins/Orioles and Yankees/Phillies series gets delayed into a two game series that will have a doubleheader on Wednesday. That gives a two day window of testing players. Replace the Marlins players with minor league players. As long as every test is negative for active players by Wednesday you continue with those two series. You can make up one missed game later in the season. Everyone continues the season as scheduled, at least for now.”
This is where I think the 30-player roster and the Major League Baseball’s taxi squad decision comes in handy. There are backup players who can play, if your team has injures or multiple players testing positive for coronavirus.
