MLB investigation focusing on 'massively disruptive incident' that led to Marlins COVID outbreak

I’m not entirely clear from what they’re saying if they’ve zeroed in on a specific incident, or if they just figure there must have been one given what’s transpired with the Marlins – and only the Marlins – in the overall scheme of Major League Baseball.

Consider this: Since Sunday, 17 members of the Marlins’ traveling party that was in Philadelphia over the weekend have tested positive. Throughout the rest of baseball, not a single player or coach on any of the other 29 teams had a positive test during that period. That includes the entire Phillies team, which played the Marlins on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. All negative.

Contrary to silly op-eds that claim baseball’s COVID protocol “is simply not working,” it’s working just fine. Contrary to claims that the entire MLB season was in jeopardy after three games because of this outbreak with one team, baseball’s other 29 teams seem to have mastered how to do this.

So what the heck happened with the Marlins? And where? That’s what baseball is trying to find out, and the suspicion is high that protocols were not followed:

The Marlins also played the Braves on Wednesday and flew to Philadelphia after that to begin the regular season. On Friday, the Marlins received word of their first positive test, then got three more on Saturday night, yet all three games against the Phillies were played. By Monday, MLB knew it was dealing with a wide contagion on the Marlins, at the least.

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Their traveling party has yet to leave Philadelphia and those who have tested positive have been sequestered at a separate hotel from the others. MLB will determine how long the Marlins must stay in Philadelphia. Miami will not play before Monday and, in the meantime, has been scrambling to add veterans such as Logan Forsythe and Mike Morin to the group at its satellite facility. The Marlins are going to have to replace more than half of their team before playing their next game, putting them in a substantial competitive disadvantage.

Don Mattingly, following Sunday’s victory over the Phillies, is the last top team official to address reporters’ questions and it was before the full extent of the problem was recognized. CEO Derek Jeter put out a statement Monday in which he acknowledged that “we now have experienced challenges once we went on the road and left Miami.”

What does Jeter mean when he says they “experienced challenges”?

The Marlins stopped in Atlanta to play two exhibition games against the Braves on July 21 and 22, then continued on to Philadelphia to start the regular season against the Phillies on July 24. No Braves have tested positive. No Phillies have tested positive. Whatever happened apparently did not affect anyone on the field, which is an encouraging sign when you consider the question of whether you can safely play baseball in a pandemic.

But something’s not right here. We know – obviously too well here at HC headquarters – that there’s been a spike of cases in the Atlanta area. If there was an issue at the Marlins’ hotel in Atlanta, that might explain it, although you’d think the basic protocols would prevent such a quick and widespread outbreak.

But is that all there was to it? Did a bunch of Marlins go to a bar? A strip club? A house party? This is pure speculation, I realize, but what exactly comprises a “massively disruptive incident”?

Keep in mind that if something like that happened, it doesn’t mean all 17 who tested positive were present for the massively disruptive incident. There could have been three or four who brought it back and infected the others. But even if that’s the case, you’d think it would be possible to limit the spread if the team was following other guidelines.

There have been a handful of positive tests in recent weeks, including Matt Davidson of the Reds immediately after the season’s first game, in which he played. None of the other Reds, nor any of the Tigers, were infected as a result of contact with Davidson.

In order for an outbreak to occur on the scale of what’s happening with the Marlins, something must have been very wrong.

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As it stands, the Marlins won’t play again until after this weekend. And when they do, the team will consist largely of players brought in from their alternative training site, which means a lot of minor leaguers. When they resume on August 4, they’re scheduled to play – of all teams – the Phillies, this time in Miami.

I have a feeling that when we find out what went wrong, the repercussions will be – shall we say – massively disruptive.