MLB In Danger Of Shutting Down Season Over Coronavirus Concerns

Major League Baseball is in danger of shutting down the season fewer than two weeks after Opening Day because of the positive coronavirus tests throughout the league. Commissioner Rob Manfred informed MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark Friday that games could be halted if the coronavirus isn’t managed better, according to an ESPN report.

This weekend could prove to be a tipping point for the league, which has already postponed 30 games. More positive tests Saturday and Sunday could potentially mean the end of baseball in 2020.

MLB’s television partners have been told to prepare to find alternate programming as early as Monday, sources told ESPN’s Keith Olbermann, in case games are canceled. State and local health officials have been troubled by a lack of adherence to the league’s safety protocols, according to the report.

“Every player in this league better take a hard look at what you're doing off the field, because what you do affects, more than just you and your team,” Chicago Cubs outfielder Steven Souza Jr. tweeted Friday night. “Your decisions off the field will put all of our seasons in jeopardy this year.”

The conversation between Manfred and Clark was not a threat but a reality check that was relayed to players -- and has spread quickly among them: We -- all of us -- need to clean this up, because if we don't, Major League Baseball in 2020 is going to be over.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 31, 2020

Friday’s game between the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals was postponed when two Cardinals’ players tested positive for the coronavirus. The teams are expected to make up the contest Sunday as part of a doubleheader.

Both the Miami Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies will miss a week’s worth of games. Eighteen Marlins’ players have reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus, forcing the league to postpone their series with the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals. No Phillies’ players have tested positive for COVID-19, but a Philadelphia clubhouse attendant and coach tested positive days after the team hosted the Marlins in a weekend series.

Marlins second baseman Isan Diaz has opted-out of the remainder of the season, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, in wake of the outbreak. Diaz has continued to test negative for the coronavirus.

If the MLB season is completed, it’s unlikely that every team will play a full 60-game schedule.