Since people speculated about what the 2020 season might look like, they have asked what could lead to the season being canceled in these rather crazy and uncertain times.
At the weekend, Andy Martino of SNY received the portion of Major League Baseball’s health and safety protocols that speak for it. And it turns out that there are three things that can trigger a season cancellation. The three triggers:
(1) when travel restrictions are imposed in the United States;
(2) if circumstances change materially, so that after consulting with recognized medical experts and the Players Association, the Commissioner determines that it is an inordinate health and safety risk for players or staff to host these games without fans; or
(3) if the number of players who are not available to provide services due to COVID-19 is so large as to compromise the competitive integrity of the season.
The first factor is obviously objective. The second two are obviously subjective, which is left to Rob Manfred. I am not sure what exactly would trigger such judgments. There is no set number of positive tests or missing players that would affect balance, for example. Given that the recent surge in positive tests at both national and MLB lists has not sparked such a discussion, I have to imagine that this would be a pretty bad situation.
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Major League Baseball announced on Sunday that the pirate pitcher Edgar Santana and four Minor League players were suspended for use of performance-enhancing drugs. Baseball is back, baby.
Santana received an 80 game ban after testing positive for Boldenone. The 28-year-old was last with the majors in 2018. He spent 2019 recovering from Tommy John’s surgery.
Reds Minor League pitcher Vladimir Gutierrez (pictured) was banned 80 games after testing positive for stanozolol. The Dodgers minor league pitcher Reza Aleaziz and Juan Idrogo were banned 50 and 72 games after testing positive for amphetamines and gw501516, respectively. José Rosario, the second base player in the Twins Minor League, was banned 50 games after being tested positive for a drug of abuse for the second time.
It’s unfortunate that the small league players could have served part of their locks in 2020 if it had been a normal year. Unfortunately, there won’t be minor league baseball this year, so they’ll have to serve their locks in 2021.
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