Major League Baseball is continuing to negotiate the re-starting of its 2020 season after it was delayed by the COIVID-19 pandemic. However, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, as the league continues to try to sort out a start date, another forty members of its staff and players returned positive results after undergoing testing for the virus.
This news comes after Major League Baseball shut down thirty of its training camps for disinfecting and deep cleaning after a sharp rise in infections in Florida, where many of the camps are located. In addition to the leagues own infection issues, the Philadelphia Phillies reported that five of their players returned positive test results, while the New York Yankees announced that four players returned positive results. The Toronto Blue Jays also announced this week that they have opted to close their Dunedin spring training facility after one of their players displayed symptoms of COVID-19.
The recent news saw the Major League Baseball Players Association opting to postpone its vote from the MLB. It is expected that the MLBPA will reject the proposal as players want seventy games and more than the $275 million teams are offering. The belief is, that should COVID-19 cause the 2020 season to be shortened, that the current deal they are negotiating would reduce the union’s power at the bargaining table in 2021.
Training Camps Shutdown
The closing of the training sites, and the revelation that multiple players and staff tested positive, is causing the MLB to reconsider its plans of returning to action in 2020. This resulted in the league closing down spring training facilities in Arizona as well. However, it was reported by Ben Cohen and Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal this week that MLB’s previous bubble plan for the 2020 season is apparently back on the table.
This revelation is resultant on eleven players from seven different teams testing positive for the virus in June. Of the seven teams, four have spring training camps in Florida, while two have camps in Texas and one is in Arizona. The reality is, the CIVID-19 virus has spread like wild-fire in the U.S as few seem to be taking the appropriate measures to distance themselves socially. The opening of its economy has been a big contributor in this, as has comments made by Donald Trump, who seems to take a haphazard approach to controlling the outbreak.