3 Hurdles that can tank the MLB season before it even starts
By Manny Gómez
As we get closer to the regular season, MLB will have to clear these three major hurdles.
Mostly, the coverage surrounding the return of MLB has been pretty positive. And though there have been a few “negative” stories here and there, for the most part, people — including players — are excited to get baseball back again.
As players begin to report to camp and Spring Training 2.0 (aka Summer Camp) kicks into gear, however, the league will have to clear some major hurdles to overcome before beginning the regular season in late July.
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The first barrier baseball will need to clear is what I like to call the Toronto Situation. Currently, Canada’s borders are closed and anyone entering the country for nonessential reasons must quarantine for 14-days.
This poses a huge problem for baseball’s sole Canadian team, the Toronto Blue Jays, who recently had to close their Spring Training facilities in Dunedin, Florida because of the coronavirus.
As it stands, according to the Associated Press, a spokeswoman for the Public Health Agency of Canada said that they have “received and are currently assessing a restart plan from Major League Baseball.” Given the current state of the pandemic in the US, which according to the New York Times set a daily record with 36,880 new cases Wednesday, however, don’t be surprised if the Canadian government declines MLB’s plan.
Similar to the Toronto situation, the second major hurdle deals with closed state borders. The state of New York, for example, will require people from hot spot states — Florida, Texas, California, North and South Carolina, Arizona, and Tennessee — to quarantine for 14-days before entering.
Like the Jays, this poses a major problem for New York’s two MLB teams, the Mets and the Yankees. If this rule is still in place when the regular season starts, visiting teams will not be able to enter the state of New York and thus will not be able to play.
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To remedy these situations, under baseball’s health and safety protocol, Rob Manfred can relocate teams to a neutral site. However, this will present certain teams with a disadvantage as they won’t be able to play in their home fields.
Finally, baseball will have to cross their fingers and pray that an outbreak doesn’t occur within the sport itself.
The fact of the matter is that MLB is banking on everything working out, no matter all the moving parts that go into it. The security agents in airports that might need to search your bags; the support staff on flights that handle your food and beverage; the diver that drives you to your hotel room; the hotel staff that takes care of every aspect of your stay.
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The possibilities for any player, staff member, media personnel, or any other person involved in the game’s daily operation to contract the virus and then to spread it are endless. And given the close quarters, these players will inevitably be in, an outbreak seems more like a matter of when not if.