MLB commissioner threatens to cancel baseball season: Report
Nearly two dozen players have tested positive for coronavirus across the league
Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred has threatened to shut down the season if the league doesn’t do a better job of managing coronavirus, ESPN reported Friday.
This comes after 18 Miami Marlins players tested positive for coronavirus earlier this week. The Miami Herald reported Friday that the team is putting the infected players on buses that will take them from Philadelphia, where they have been quarantining, back to Miami.
The St. Louis Cardinals announced Friday that two players tested positive for coronavirus in testing that was done before their Wednesday game against the Minneapolis Twins.
BIDEN: SPORTS ARE "PROBABLY NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO HAPPEN"
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Phillies announced Thursday that two staff members tested positive for coronavirus after a Sunday game against the Marlins.
Several teams have had games postponed due to the outbreak among the ballplayers. The MLB did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
ESPN reports that players are afraid the season could be called off as soon as Monday if there is an increase in confirmed cases or more obvious lapses in social distancing.
MORE MARLINS TEST POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS
Despite some criticism that players haven't been taking social distancing protocols seriously on and off the field, Miami Marlins CEO Derek Jeter said that the Marlins are taking the pandemic very seriously and will be adding more preventative measures for the rest of the season.
“We continue to take this entire situation very seriously. All of our players, coaches and staff are, understandably, having a difficult time enduring this experience,” Jeter said in a statement. “We have moved to a daily testing schedule while we isolate and quarantine appropriately, along with enacting additional preventive procedures with our traveling party.”