Yesterday's Marlins Situation Has Far-Reaching Effects

Why Monday was a devastating day...

Well, they decided to play Monday night and to underplay the reality that half the damn Marlins have now tested positive for COVID-19.

I guess it's left for sane people such as myself to show how bad of a fucking idea this is...

Because, as of right now, you really only have four options if you're MLB:

Number One:

You could go ahead and let the Marlins take the field as is with asymptomatic players and fill in fewer blanks.

I don't think I need to say how bad of an idea this is. Keith Olbermann has already given a nightmare scenario in which he has mapped out the possibility that the entire American and National League Eastern divisions will be infected by the virus as early as a week from tomorrow.

If the situation is as bad as I think, six teams could already be infected and two more go down tomorrow or Wednesday, depending on when they try to have the Marlins play again:

• The Marlins directly
• The Phillies through the Marlins
• The exposure which led to the Marlins' infection apparently happened in travel to and from Atlanta for the Summer Camp series with the Braves, so they're exposed probably
• Which would expose the Mets, who they played this weekend
• Which would expose the Red Sox, who the Mets played tonight
• And the Braves would then have exposed the Rays, who THEY played tonight
• And that doesn't count the two teams in holding patterns: The Orioles (Miami) and Yankees (Phillies)

So it's clear that anything short of a two-week quarantine for both the Phillies and the Marlins at minimum, and probably more, would be useless here.

But then what?

Number Two:

You would be forced to field an entirely new Marlins team (and possibly Phillies as well) from the rest of the 60-man mega-roster plus the full-league “taxi squad” some believe is now stationed in Nashville, awaiting orders.

This has numerous problems. One being travel on all ends, two being getting anything approximating a “team” together for one or both franchises, three basically being what happens if this becomes four or five different franchises over the course of time?

Number Three, and probably the only scenario which could allow play to continue:

The Marlins are removed from the league and tiebreaker/seeding/schedule considerations adjusted for the purposes of the remaining teams in the East.

This has happened in both the NWSL and MLS tournaments, and, given this is about a ten-week season and you NEED two-week quarantine for a situation like this, you, at least IMODO, have no option but to remove teams with outbreaks from the season if you wish to have any hope of playing the season.

But the only correct solution is Number Four:

Cancel the entire MLB season now and regroup.

There are, however, two EXISTENTIAL problems with this situation.

Within MLB:

You are staring, in the face, a 2022 players' strike during the new CBA negotiations, if they even bother to negotiate.

And if you cancel this year, you all but doom any play in any travel league (which see the second part of this) until there's a workable vaccine – and that's if you can find one.

That probably means little to no play next year, then the CBA runs out, and then God only knows...

I do think that one of the major reasons that Manfred is not doing the right thing is money on his own end, because, if he does the right thing, there is really no guarantee when OR IF Major League Baseball can or will take the field again!!!

And part of that also dovetails into the other part of this.

Outside MLB:

It is rapidly being shown that the bubbles that the NBA, NHL, MLS, and NWSL are using are working – and even the limited bubble NASCAR is using is also seeming to hold.

But the reality of Monday's situation seems to indicate that sports which cannot operate inside such a controlled bubble are not going to be able to proceed until when (OR IF) a vaccine is found.

That means not only no MLB, it means no pro nor college football – much less the high schools, etc.

That probably seals the deal on the future of the American sports society as you've known it the last 30-60 years.

There has already been discussion that ESPN does not have a “Plan B” if the NFL and college football go down – part of the reason has been revealed in the last few days, as ESPN has literally $1,000,000,000 in advertising for the football season that it will lose if the seasons are cancelled.

This probably kills ESPN.

Then you have a lot of the other sports networks, including the regional ones often reliant on baseball to fill a lot of the time on their schedules.

In short, Monday's revelations probably will change the way sports are not only played, but broadcast, forever – and not in ways people are going to like.