More than a dozen Miami Marlins players and staff members test positive for COVID-19

Warning, be careful, but the Miami Marlins weren’t careful enough, and so Major League Baseball has fallen where it was trying to avoid.

Where the team found itself stranded in Philadelphia Monday instead of flying home to Miami after winning two of three in the City of Brotherly Love. It came after more than a dozen Marlin players and staff members tested positive for COVID-19 in an outbreak that brought troublesome concerns to our National Pastime  It caused a postponement of Miami’s home opener of the two-game series versus the Baltimore Orioles.

It also called off the New York Yankees’ series opener in Philly Monday, where the Bronx Bombers would have been in the same clubhouse the Marlins used this past weekend.

Said commissioner Rob Manfred on the MLB Network: “Obviously, we don’t want any player to get exposed. It’s not a positive thing, but I don’t see it as a nightmare. We built the protocols to allow us to continue to play.That’s why we have the expanded rosters, that’s why we have the pool of additional players. And we think we can keep people safe and continue to play.”

The commissioner didn’t sound worried at all, and he probably passed all the concerns aside. But it’s not as simple as all that. Postponing a pair of games is normal, spending another night in Philadelphia is nothing new. But it no doubt didn’t fare well for the Yanks who were instead stranded in the nation’s capital while the Phils were home with no one to play.

That’s one part of this mess, the other involves the Marlins, and who knows who might also test positive for the coronavirus pandemic, and this includes other teams falling into the trap only five days into the shortened 60-game season.

Right now Miami has more problems and it all depends on how many of its players are still testing positive later today. Currently there are nine players on the 30-man roster, two taxi squad players and a pair of staff members. These results are on the condition of anonymity because they haven’t been publicly disclosed.

As for the Yankees, no positive results have been turned in and they are going to arrive today in Philadelphia and play. They are well prepared, what with their own clubhouse staff with the team there, but no other details have been disclosed regarding to anyone testing positive. But the Phils are being tested after the Marlins’ left their visitors clubhouse.

Meanwhile, Baltimore was still in Miami Monday night, but were slated to play host to the Marlins in a two-game set starting Wednesday. Presently, the word is that only if testing results are acceptable, will these games be played. Otherwise, they could be damaging to the roster of manager Don Mattingly’s team. It also depends on numbers, so it’s only wait and see.

The Chicago White Sox have its own problems, and that’s dealing with its manager Rick Renteria who is being kept away from his team after experiencing “a slight cough and nasal congestion”, and tests were planned.

But the Marlins outbreak was the talk of Major League ball, and Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez said he was honestly scared as he discussed the situation. He missed last season because of a heart condition, and his Nats are scheduled to play in Miami this weekend.

“My level of concern,” he said, “went from about an eight to 12. I mean this thing really hits home now. I got guys in our clubhouse that are really concerned, as well.”

While members of the Miami traveling party are self-quarantining in place while awaiting the outcome of these results, it raised anew questions about Manfred’s plan for navigating the pandemic.

Now we also get to hear from Los Angeles Dodgers southpaw pitcher David Price, who is one of those that has something to say on most other subjects. Oh, and he’s always chose to opt out of this shortened season.

“Now we really get to see if MLB is going to put players health first,” said Price. “Remember when Manfred said players health was ‘paramount’?

Well, part of the reason I’m home right now is because players health wasn’t being put first. I can see that hasn’t changed.”

Manfred countered by saying test results will be available early Tuesday, and there will likely be a public update later in the day. He added that there will be factors that would force MLB to alter plans.

Consider this: A team losing a number of players that rendered it completely non-competitive would be an issue that would have to be addressed and most likely thoughts about making a change. Whether that was shutting down a part of the season, the entire season. depends on the circumstances. Same thing with respect to league-wide, where you get to a certain point league wide and where it become a health threat, and for that would certainly shut down MLB at that point.

Then there’s Dr. Andrew Morris, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Toronto, who said that the Marlins’ outbreak isn’t a surprise because MLB’s plan was seriously flawed.

“Baseball is in huge trouble,” he said. “It makes me wonder if they are listening to the advice of experts or whether their experts are giving them good advice. This was not a plan anymore knows what they are talking about would have conceived. It’s playing out like it was supposed to play out.”

Are they playing today, best check your MLB schedule while COVID-19 tests continue.