I have a feeling it will be months before most sports start up again. Things will probably just get worse until a vaccine is available.
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The race is on to develop a vaccine... If possible, investing in some biotech firms would be a good move
follow the the white rabbitComment -
With no sports to bet. Must control self to stay out of the books Casino.Comment -
Just want some baseball in my life. Already had to wait all winter. This is tough.Comment -
4:07pm: There is no formal directive to freeze rosters at this point, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter).
Some within the game are still hoping to squeeze in a 162-game regular season. Red Sox president Sam Kennedy (Twitter link via Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic) and White Sox VP Scott Reifer (Twitter link via Adam Hoge of NBC Sports Chicago) said as much. And Nightengale (via Twitter) and Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal (via Twitter) were among those to report the same from unnamed sources.
Of course, Diamond was also among those that have pointed to a recognition within the game that the initial delay will be for more than two weeks. And the Red Sox front office acknowledged in its conference call today that there’d need to be a second round of Spring Training before starting back up.
Those (and many other) factors will make it awfully difficult to make it to 162 while still wrapping up postseason play by even early November. Kennedy noted the possibility of holding games at spring sites or without fans, but even in that scenario it would seem to require quite some creativity to make a full season possible given the limits of how hard pitchers can be worked. Perhaps hosting postseason contests at sites impervious to the cold would allow some flexibility on the back end.
1:11pm: Yesterday, public health imperatives relating to the spread of the coronavirus forced Major League Baseball to pause Spring Training and institute a two-week delay to the regular season. The decision leaves many questions left to answer in the coming days, weeks, and months.
Teams are holding in place and awaiting further direction for the time being. MLB and MLB Players Association representatives are scheduled to meet this weekend to work out a plan, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times reports (Twitter links).
In the meantime, White Sox GM Rick Hahn says that MLB has temporarily paused player transactions, MLB.com’s Scott Merkin reports (via Twitter). The freeze will be in place through the weekend, at least.
This is certainly not the right moment for trades and waiver claims to be executed, so an immediate moratorium was all but certain. Presumably, a more formalized plan for dealing with roster matters will ultimately go into place. It’s obvious that some kind of exceptional measures will be needed.
Typically, this is a time of year when we begin to see a high volume of transactions. Many of those rate as relatively minor in comparison to the high-profile signings and trades that we focus on, but they mean quite a bit to the individual players involved.
To some extent, it’s not difficult to imagine a roster freeze from a logistical perspective. Dates for certain decisions can simply be pushed back. There may be some tricky bits to sort out, but they’re of relatively minor import.
The tougher questions relate to the potential for a lengthy stoppage. While the initial postponement of Opening Day covered two weeks, every indication is that further delays will take place.
For the time being, players are being kept on site in spring facilities. Teams are taking varying approaches, with some holding limited workouts and others canceling player activities.
Managing this crisis will require the league and union to work together to ensure a fair outcome for all players. Minor-leaguers aren’t even compensated for time spent in Spring Training, so the loss of anticipated in-season earnings would be devastating. And that’s just as true for the many workers around the country who rely upon ballgames to pay their bills.Comment -
If they don't start by 4.10 there's no 162 games
How you gonna do post season in MN, Chi (NL), NY, Bos, or Cle/ Cinci/ Pit in mid Nov?
Owners NOT doing neutral fields
Cannot have a WS w snow daysComment -
Angels staying vigilant on virus symptoms with Charles Barkley test pending
NBA great Charles Barkley, who is awaiting the results of a coronavirus test he underwent after feeling ill, spent significant time with members of the Los Angeles Angels on March 2.
Barkley, who did not appear on TNT's "Inside the NBA" on Thursday, revealed he was self-isolating after not feeling well during a trip to New York, and he said he had been tested for the virus.
On Friday, Barkley told ESPN's Pedro Gomez in a text: "Still in quarantine waiting results."
Before the New York trip, Barkley, 57, was with the Angels on March 2 in Mesa, Arizona, for a spring training game against the Chicago Cubs.
Angels general manager Billy Eppler told ESPN on Friday the team was aware of reports on Barkley's test for the virus.
"It was March 2 and to this point none of our players or staff have reported any fever or symptoms associated with the virus," Eppler said. "We will await further instructions from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and Major League Baseball."Comment -
WTF the season is cancelled??????? jesusComment -
Here's an idea...
If you get f'n sick, go on the IL till you get better.
What a joke.Comment -
My guess is MLB starts on May 1.
The suits that run MLB will probably come up with a 140 or so schedule for each team.
If they start on May 1 and play a full 162 game schedule which won’t happen the season would end in November and you can’t play playoff baseball on Thanksgiving unless you’re Phoenix.
So I think a shorten season is the way to go and keep the playoff schedule in tact.Comment -
- One pitcher whose routine may not be impacted by the elongated offseason is Chris Sale, as Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo) that “from a medical perspective, nothing really changes with” Sale’s loosely-established timeline. “There’s uncertainty regarding his pitching status generally that we want to resolve. We’re still going to want to resolve that,” Bloom said. “We’re still going to want to progress him. We haven’t gotten to that point yet, but we’re still going to work, even during this time period, without games, to get some progress and get some more definition on his status.” A flexor strain led to Sale being shut down earlier this month, and if all is proceeding well, he should be on the verge of resuming throwing. The delayed Opening Day could mean that Sale won’t miss any regular-season action, though naturally the Sox are taking things as carefully as possible with the ace southpaw.
- James Click “rose from constructing an ultimate frisbee website on a whim to shepherding the Houston Astros forward,” the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome writes in a profile of the Astros’ new general manager. Click’s pre-Houston resume included a stint as a writer and database-builder for Baseball Prospectus, which led to 14 years working in the Rays’ front office thanks to a recommendation from another new Rays intern and former BP writer in Chaim Bloom, now Boston’s chief baseball officer. Rome’s piece is a strong look at an executive whose arrival at a GM position comes with the added challenge of trying to reconfigure the Astros after an offseason of scandal and public scorn.
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Hope when the season starts that they won't be played in empty stadiums. We need crowds when the Astros play on the road.Comment -
Reds' Trevor Bauer stages wiffle ball game for charity
Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer played host to a "Sandlot" charity wiffle ball game Saturday night in Arizona.
All proceeds were to be donated to support MLB staff members who are out of work while the games have been suspended because of the coronavirus outbreak. Bauer also set up a GoFundMe account that has raised almost $20,000. He has set a target of $1 million.
Among the players who participated were two of Bauer's former Indians teammates: pitcher Mike Clevinger and outfielder Oscar Mercado, who reportedly homered in the game.
MLB shut down spring training Thursday and has said that the start of the regular season will be delayed at least two weeks.
Bauer was traded from the Indians to the Reds in July in a three-team deal with the Padres that landed Yasiel Puig in Cleveland.Comment -
Bauer seems to be a good dude.Comment -
Man it's all over baby.Comment -
6:55PM: The Center Of Disease Control And Prevention has issued a recommendation against any events of 50 or more people over the next eight weeks in the United States. That eight-week timeline would last until May 9, so assuming that the health situation stabilizes within those eight weeks, a Memorial Day start to baseball season wouldn’t seem feasible, given the necessary time required for preseason preparations.
4:56PM: With MLB operations on hold due to the spread of the coronavirus, it’s becoming increasingly likely that the season remains on hold until at least Memorial Day weekend, according to a report from Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Such a scenario would push back the beginning of the regular season to late May. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman expressed a similar sentiment, saying that the commencement of the season “anytime before June would be viewed as welcome.”
Officially, the beginning of the regular season has been delayed for a minimum of two weeks, which points to April 9 as the earliest date for the sport’s return. But in light of recent developments, that date is looking more and more like a mere pipe dream. Indeed, Robert Murray reports that the MLBPA has advised players to consider returning to the place they would be most comfortable for the next 4-6 weeks. The Athletic writers Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich reported yesterday that it was unlikely for the season to begin before May.
In light of a memo distributed by MLB this morning, minor leaguers have been sent home and organized group workouts at team facilities have been halted. Yesterday, it looked like a host of teams were planning to stick together despite the stoppage, but it’s expected that more and more clubs will vacate their Spring Training facilities in the coming days. And with affiliated baseball discovering its first confirmed case of the virus this morning, teams may be more hesitant to keep players grouped together.
By all accounts, MLB is still aiming to play a 162-game season, but the feasibility of that goal will no doubt be challenged by any significant setback. If indeed the season is delayed until Memorial Day or June, a truncated season may be in order. Otherwise, we might be looking (speculatively) at December World Series games in neutral sites. Of course, specifics on this front are scarce and will remain nebulous until the situation gains clarity.
The consequences of a delayed regular season are wide-ranging, and the subsequent questions that must be resolved will be manifold. Issues such as compensation (especially for minor league players and stadium staff), service time, schedule structure, workouts, and plenty more will need to be sorted out before the 2020 campaign may carry on.Comment
of tenn claiming they have one in the works