Toronto Blue Jays highlight risks in restarting season
By David Hill
Major League Baseball may be back, but the Toronto Blue Jays highlight the risks in starting up the season.
In theory, this should be a time for celebration. Major League Baseball will be coming back in some capacity – a 60 game season with a completely different feel due to new rules being implemented. Yet, for the Toronto Blue Jays, the upcoming season is fraught with questions while highlighting the risks inherent in starting the season too early.
As it is, the Blue Jays home for 2020 has yet to be determined. The Canada-U.S. border has been closed, with the Canadian government extending that non-essential travel ban through July 21. While the team has reached out to the city of Toronto to allow games to be played there, approval is not a given.
On top of those issues, the Blue Jays had multiple players and staff members test positive for COVID-19. These positive tests prompted the shutdown, and deep cleaning, of their facility in Dunedin. One of the players who tested positive, and is on the 40 man roster, had apparently interacted with players on the Phillies who later tested positive.
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That is the problem. Major League Baseball is going to have strict social distancing guidelines for players on the field, with masks being mandatory and a ban on brawls, spitting, and other assorted baseball related moments. But off the field? Well, the players will need to police themselves.
Meanwhile, various major league states – Florida, Texas, and Arizona – are seeing dramatic spikes in positive tests for the coronavirus. Those three states account for five major league teams, with every one of the three proposed divisions having one of those states. While the players will be policing themselves, all it takes is for one person to ignore that directive.
The Blue Jays are not the only team facing these issues. The Phillies have had several positive tests, as noted before. Charlie Blackmon tested positive, as did other members of the Rockies. Taxi squads, and a specific COVID-19 injured list, are great, but one can only do so much. With a month until the hoped for Opening Day, these issues will not magically disappear.
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The Toronto Blue Jays have a myriad of issues to solve. Those problems just highlight the risks that Major League Baseball is taking by pushing the season forward.