Musings
The delusions sports leagues had about the safety of playing games was gone when Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus. In response, the NBA has shut down. College basketball leagues, at least the ones still playing, are opting to play with no fans in the arena. The NHL is expected to make an announcement later today, but we are already seeing teams cancel morning skates.
Major League Baseball?
Well, they’re doing nothing. Absolutely nothing. Better yet, we see articles like the one from Jeff Passan of ESPN wherein we see “the timeline for baseball to address Opening Day isn’t quite as urgent as it is for the NBA and the NHL, which are in the midst of their seasons, three high-ranking team officials said Wednesday that they hoped MLB could settle on a plan within days so teams can inform players and staff about how to proceed.”
While Major League Baseball is sitting around just hoping this problem will go away in a couple of weeks, they are hosting Spring Training games.
With players like Bryce Harper saying they’re going to continue interacting with fans, you risk not just another Rudy Gobert situation, but MLB could be faced with a rapidly spreading disease among teams and its fans. Remember, this is a much bigger issue for baseball as the fans are much closer to the action than in any other sport. That’s an even bigger issue during Spring Training.
Instead of playing Spring Training games with no fans, or just cancelling it all together, Rob Manfred is doing nothing, and Tony Clark, the head of the Player’s Union has presented no obstacle to Manfred’s doing nothing. This isn’t just an absence of leadership, it is a dereliction of duty.
Keep in mind, cities which host baseball teams are shutting down, and they are banning crowds. Teams like the Seattle Mariners don’t know if they are supposed to play in an empty ballpark, or if they are supposed to play somewhere else. On the latter, that is already against the advice of health experts who say this will only further spread the disease.
Meanwhile, the NBA is shut down. College basketball will not have fans at games. The NHL is on the verge of shutting down. Mark Cuban has announced, unprompted, he is taking measures to take care of personnel who will be directly impacted by games not being played.
Baseball? Well, they’re playing games in front of fans, and they’re taking their time to make a decision even with Major League cities directly impacted.
We knew Rob Manfred was a bad commissioner, but we didn’t know he was so dangerous to show a callous disregard for the health of players and fans alike. This man can no longer be in charge of baseball.
It’s finally happened. Rudy Gobert became the first professional athlete to test positive for the coronavirus. This was him joking around a few days ago:
https://twitter.com/breaking911/status/1237920735647203328?s=21
The NBA did the only thing they could do by suspending the rest of the season. After all, with Gobert having it, the Utah Jazz must be quarantined for at least two weeks.
The same goes for all the teams Gobert played the past few weeks. At that point, you can’t play games.
With the NBA suspending its season, everyone must follow suit. That includes the NHL who shares many arenas with NBA teams.
Notably, the Jazz just played at MSG last week. After that, the Rangers played a home game the ensuing Saturday. Today, the Big East Tournament began.
Many of the same MSG personnel who came into contact with Gobert have come into contact with NHL and now NCAA players.
Right there, three leagues are infected. More will as well.
It’s well past time leagues continue dragging their feet. Now is the time to suspend each and every league.
For MLB, that means ending Spring Training now and postponing Opening Day. There is no longer any other plausible solution.
This is about player and fan safety. It’s a public health issue.
Every league must stop playing now.
Because of the coronavirus, the State of Washington has banned crowds of over 250 people. As a result, the Seattle Mariners may not be able to play their first two series at home, and they are now investigating playing those series at their Spring Training facility in Arizona.
The City of San Francisco and Santa Clara County has banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people. That means the Golden State Warriors are going to play in an empty arena, and depending on how long this measure is put into effect, it will mean the San Francisco Giants are going to do the same to begin the 2020 season.
The City of Philadelphia has cancelled their annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, and they are recommending not having gatherings of 5,000 people or more. At the moment, this is not a ban which interferes with the Flyers, 76ers, or Phillies per se. However, if those teams chose to follow the recommendation, that would mean playing in empty stadiums.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWin is asking for sporting events to be open just for “athletes, parents, and others essential to the game.” With this plan being implemented, that would be playing the NCAA First Four in an empty arena. It would also mean empty stadiums for the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians.
New York Governor Cuomo has created a containment zone around New Rochelle in an attempt to “try to control the spread of the coronavirus in the largest cluster in the United States.” As part of the containment, there are no large indoor or outdoor public gatherings. New Rochelle is approximately 12 miles away from Yankee Stadium and 13 miles from Citi Field.
There are a number of businesses and universities which are moving to close down and have everyone work/learn remotely. If you are tracking it, that includes a number of schools in cities or metropolitan areas with an MLB team:
- Harvard – Boston Red Sox
- UCLA – Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels
- Columbia – New York Yankees and New York Mets
- University of California, San Diego – San Diego Padres
- Stanford – San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics
This is not an exhaustive list, and it is one which will continue to grow. As the days and weeks past, it is becoming increasingly clear professional sports leagues need to have contingencies put into place. As we are seeing with the NBA, so far that means playing in empty arenas.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the NIH and part of the White House coronavirus task force, just told a congressional committee that the NBA shouldn’t be playing in front of crowds right now.
— Jane McManus (@janesports) March 11, 2020
In some sense, the biggest issue is for the NBA and NHL as their seasons are winding down, and they are about to begin the playoffs in a month. Of course, a bigger issue is public health and preventing the spread of disease.
Right now, MLB is not face with an interruption of their season as the 2020 season has not yet begun. In fact, there is still time to implement plans to postpone the beginning of the season, move games, or possibly play in empty stadiums. No matter what, MLB needs to find a way to accommodate fans.
As more schools shut down and municipalities implement bans on large public gatherings, it becomes increasingly clear Major League Baseball should act quickly to delay the start of the season. This isn’t something anyone wants to see, but MLB needs to act quickly and have a plan in place before plans are forced upon them.
Right now, the easiest solution is to permit teams to continue working out in Florida and Arizona for as long as they are permitted. They can then wait and see how everything with the coronavirus shakes out.
There are a number of potential solutions with MLB beginning the season at a time and point in the schedule where the CDC advises the threat of the disease is over leaving them to schedule makeup games throughout the season. They could also just cancel those games if making up those games is impossible or impractical.
Whatever the case, with each passing day, we see the ability to attend and watch sporting events is being directly impacted by the coronavirus. The issue now being increasingly forced upon Major League Baseball is how they plan to adapt. This is going to require leadership from Rob Manfred, who we all hope is willing to do what is best for the fans and the sport.
At this point, it is difficult to see a better solution for him than postponing the start of the season.
With the news of Michael Conforto straining his oblique, he will likely miss Opening Day, and it is possible he will miss approximately a month. That is a month to figure out what is the best way to manage his absence. That is a problem all the more problematic given how the Mets only have two outfielders who are everyday caliber with Conforto being one of them.
There are a number of potential solutions, each of which are fraught with with their own problems.
The Mets could go with J.D. Davis and Dominic Smith in the corners. However, with their OAA and sprint speed that is not a viable defensive solution. They could also go with Jake Marisnick in center, but he was a well below average hitter and among the worst hitters at his position even when he knew what pitch was coming.
The Mets could better mix and match in the outfield if they could put Jeff McNeil back in a corner outfield position. As we saw last year, he was a good defender out there, and as we saw, he was an All-Star in left last year. However, in order for that to happen, the Mets need to have a replacement for him at third as McNeil is slated to be the everyday third baseman.
On that note, Eduardo Nunez is having a good Spring Training, and according to reports, he feels the healthiest he has in years. As reported by Tim Britton of The Athletic, Nunez took time off to heal as he said, “Last year, I couldn’t even play defense, I couldn’t hustle, I couldn’t steal any base, I couldn’t hit for power, so it was really tough.”
If he’s completely healthy, which Nunez asserts wasn’t the case in Boston, he appears to be on track to making the Opening Day roster. More than that, he could insert himself into the everyday lineup with Conforto’s injury.
In his 10 year career, despite his speed, Nunez has never been a good defender. In fact, he is a negative defender at every infield position. That said, his best infield position is third base. That’s not exactly inspiring with him having a -22 DRS there in his career. However, notably, he amassed a -12 DRS in his two years with the Red Sox.
Prior to the 2018 and 2019 seasons, Nunez had not been all that bad at third. After posting a -4 DRS in 2014, he had a -3 DRS over the ensuing three seasons with two of them being at a 0 DRS or better. It should be noted his OAA numbers were not all the positive with a -6 in 2017, 0 in 2018, and -3 in 2019.
All told, he is just not good at third. However, what he appears to be is playable there over a shorter duration. Of course, the question is whether it is worth playing him there. On the surface, the answer is probably not. In his two years with Boston, Nunez’s wRC+ was 70, which is worse than Marisnick.
Of course, that number was dragged down by Nunez’s woeful 2019 season. Looking back to the three seasons prior to Nunez’s Boston years, he had a 106 OPS+ making him slightly above league-average. Slightly above league average with the bat and below league average as a fielder isn’t a bad mix for a solid utility player.
However, for an everyday player it is less than ideal. In fact, it is not a recipe for success. Ultimately, this means Nunez shouldn’t be the solution for Conforto in his absence. That would then mean McNeil stays at third, and the Mets are left with either a center fielder who can’t hit or a pair of first baseman in the corners.
Right now, if the Mets don’t make a move, they are going to need Yoenis Cespedes to make unexpected progress, or they are going to need Luis Rojas to show deft touch in mixing a matching his lineup. That is not an enviable position to be in, but that’s where the Mets stand due to their not addressing their outfield depth this past offseason.
With the outbreak of the coronavirus, Major League teams had their players stop signing autographs. Instead, they had players pre-sign items to toss to the crowd.
In an unprecedented move, the MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA, and MLS released a joint statement informing they’re closing clubhouses to non-essential personnel. That even includes reporters. That came at the suggestion of the CDC.
The goal is to keep everyone six to eight feet away from the players to try to prevent the risk of infection. This is both smart and responsible. We need to see more of this.
While the professional sports leagues are taking measures to protect their players, as well they should, they’re not yet doing the same for their fans.
There aren’t similar protocols for fans. Quite possibly, that’s because you can’t do that while having fans still attend games. It’s really not possible to have fans sitting six to eight feet from one another.
You can’t do that, nor can you keep them that far away from one another. Not with bathrooms and concessions. It’s just not happening.
The ultimate question for leagues like MLB is what should they do. Do you cancel games? Do you have play games in empty ballparks? Seriously, what can they reasonably do here?
The Ivy Leagues took the measure to cancel their conference tournament, but they’re still sending teams to the NCAA Tournament. That’s a highly contradictory measure, and it is one which reeks of hoping a few weeks will solve the problem for them. Maybe, they’re right.
As fans, we can only do what we feel is right.
If you’re a fan who feels this is over-hyped, go to games. Have fun. At the moment, no one is stopping you.
If you’re a fan who is nervous for various reasons, don’t go to games. Eat the money on the tickets if you must. If you’re that concerned, stay home.
In the end, you have to do what’s right. On that note, MLB needs to start doing what’s right.
The Devils are asking fans in these categories not to attend tonight’s game or any others the rest of the season pic.twitter.com/irADTDhiSb
— Abbey Mastracco (@AbbeyMastracco) March 10, 2020
The Devils and other teams are urging caution. It’s a start, but there needs to be more.
Teams should begin issuing refunds or credits to fans for early season games. If they’re that concerned about the virus they’re restricting fan and reporter access to players, they should be also be willing to allow fans to choose another game to attend later in the season.
More importantly, it’s long past time to lift blackout restrictions.
MLB has fans who are not going to be able to travel to games like they once could. That’s a result of both fear and quarantines. It’s insanely stupid for a sports league to restrict access to games period, and it’s dumber when television and streaming are the only two means to watch and follow games.
In the end, MLB has done right by its players in the face of the coronavirus. Now, it’s time to do right by their fans. It’s time to start issuing refunds/credits and lifting blackout restrictions.
Part of Spring Training is getting through healthy and ready for Opening Day. Fortunately, Brandon Nimmo‘s heart is fine, and his neck is not presenting any further issues. We are awaiting news on Michael Conforto. Right there, the Mets have had injury issues already with their two everyday outfielders.
Yes, there are only two.
Going over to Baseball Savant, there are only four players on the Mets really capable of playing the outfield on an everyday basis. Conforto led the Mets with a 6 OAA last year, Nimmo was not too far behind with a 3 OAA. After that Jeff McNeil had a 0 OAA indicating he could handle the position. In terms of McNeil, he is no longer part of the everyday outfield equation as he is slated to be the Mets everyday third baseman.
As good as Conforto was last year in the outfield, Jake Marisnick was even better with an 8 OAA in center last year. So defensively, the Mets have three outfielders. The problem with Marisnick is he can’t hit.
Among center fielders with at least 300 plate appearances, his 86 wRC+ ranked 26th. Keep in mind, that was when Marisnick knew what pitch was coming.
With the way Marisnick hits, or better put can’t hit, the Mets are looking for more offensive options in the outfield, As a result, the Mets plan on playing J.D. Davis and Dominic Smith in the outfield on an everyday basis with Marisnick as a defensive replacment. Presumably, Davis is going to get the bulk of the playing time. Simply put, that is a very bad idea.
Last year, Davis had a -7 OAA in left field. Some want to argue he was just thrown out there, and he will get better with more playing time. That argument overlooks Davis not having the skill set to succeed in the outfield.
Davis is not a fast runner. In fact, his sprint speed is only 26.3 ft/second. To put it into perspective, that makes him slower than Pete Alonso. Essentially, this means Davis has the speed of a first baseman in the outfield. As we saw with Daniel Murphy in 2009, just because you got away with it for a portion of one year, you should not rely on it going forward because you are going to get burned.
What was said about Davis applies to Smith as well. Even with a vastly superior -3 OAA, he is a step slower than Davis. What this highlights is you should not count on first basemen in the outfield for anything other than a start here or there.
Keep in mind, Davis and Smith having strong arms are non sequiturs. If you can’t get to a ball, it doesn’t matter how strong your arm is. A strong arm will never compensate for playing outs into hits and singles into extra base hits because you can’t get to a playable ball.
So, when you break it down, Conforto and Nimmo are everyday Major League outfielders. Beyond them, McNeil is a third baseman now, Marisnick can’t hit, and neither Davis nor Smith can be relied upon to adequately field the position.
Overall, this puts the Mets in a situation where they need to find another third baseman to move McNeil to the outfield, or they can just go out and sign Yasiel Puig. Keep in mind, that’s what they need to do when everyone is healthy. Things become much more dire if Conforto gets bad news.
The New York Mets initial plan for the 2020 season was to have just two everyday outfielders in Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo. That’s it.
The plan was to fill-in here and there with some combination of J.D. Davis, Jake Marisnick, Dominic Smith, and maybe Jeff McNeil. As for McNeil, he’s slated as the everyday third baseman making his filling-in as an outfielder a rob Peter to pay Paul situation.
In sum, the Mets are very shallow in the outfield. The situation worsens when you consider there isn’t any real Triple-A depth. That makes hoping Yoenis Cespedes can return into NEEDING Cespedes to return.
Seeing Troy Tulowitzki‘s inability to return from the same surgery, that’s not an enviable position. That goes double when you consider Tulowitzki didn’t suffer a broken ankle during rehab like Cespedes did.
All told, the Mets cannot sustain an injury to either Conforto or Nimmo because that leaves them with two outfielders who should not be playing everyday in the outfield.
Already this Spring, Nimmo has had a heart scare, and now, Conforto is being evaluated for an oblique injury. Throw in Davis’ shoulder, and the Mets shallow outfield depth is already being tested.
This should be a reminder Yasiel Puig is still a free agent, and as explained earlier, he’s a perfect fit for this Mets team. That becomes increasingly more obvious with every injury scare.
The Mets supposedly have designs in winning the 2020 World Series, and their purported plan is to have depth across the board. That only works if you have depth, which the Mets don’t have in the outfield.
Sooner or later, the Mets are going to need Puig. The longer they wait to sign him the more they run the risk of his not being there when they become truly desperate.
It’s time to stop messing around and pretending like two everyday outfielders are sufficient. It’s time to sign Puig.
With yesterday being International Women’s Day, Sabr released a bio of Joan Payson, the woman who was the original owner of the New York Mets. The article written by Joan M. Thomas was quite enlightening about just how important a figure Payson is not just in Mets but also Major League history.
As noted in the article, Payson was a pioneer who was the first woman to ever purchase a baseball team. This opportunity presented itself when the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants moved to California. For her part, Payson was a minority owner in the Giants, and she was one of the people who sought to bring National League Baseball back to New York with her being the owner of the New York team of the Continental League.
Payson loved baseball listening to games wherever she went. As we know, she unofficially retired 24 in honor of Willie Mays, her favorite player. She was involved with the Mets top to bottom including the team getting its name in her apartment.
Under her stewardship, the Mets not only obtained Tom Seaver, but they would become the first ever expansion team to win a World Series. That would make her the first ever woman to own a team to win the World Series. Through and through, Payson was a true baseball pioneer.
In that way, she has a profile similar to Hall of Famer Effa Manley. Manley was inducted into the Hall of Fame because of her ownership of the Newark Eagles, a team who would win the Negro League World Series in 1946. More than that, she emerged as an important owner who helped legitimize the league. In fact, when Larry Doby was signed by the Cleveland Indians, her team received compensation much in the same way we have seen NPL teams receive compensation when players like Ichiro Suzuki came to the Major Leagues.
With Manley’s induction, there was a precedent set. The Hall of Fame inducted Manley because she was a pioneer who was a winner. Manley was inducted because she was an important owner in the Negro Leagues. Ultimately, she was inducted because of her impact on the game.
No, Payson did not face the same societal problems Manley did. Far from it. However, Payson is an important figure in Major League history.
It was her involvement in the Continental League which helped drive expansion. She became the first woman to purchase a Major League team. She was the first ever woman to own a team which won the World Series. The effects of what she did as an owner are still present today.
Fact is, Payson is an important figure in Major League history, and her impact on the game should be recognized with her being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Hopefully, when the Veteran’s Committee or Modern Baseball Committee convene later this year, Payson will not only be on the ballot, but she will also be elected.
All offseason, we’re hearing Steven Matz is in a competition for a spot in the rotation. This is despite the fact he’s very clearly the team’s fourth starter. Anyone who takes the time to look at the data and trends can see it.
Remember, it’s 2020.
Rick Porcello‘s 2016 Cy Young Award is irrelevant. Michael Wacha‘s 2013 NLCS MVP is irrelevant. Neither pitcher is that pitcher. Not anymore.
What matters now is Matz is better than those two. Fact is, the ONLY reason why he wouldn’t be in the rotation is the GM didn’t acquire him. Yes, it would be the only reason, and if that happens (much like Robinson Cano batting third much of 2019), it’s unacceptable.
It’s time the Mets stop this nonsense, and stop the flood of tweets, including those from reporters well connected to the Mets, and just say Matz isn’t just in the rotation, but he’s the team’s fourth starter.
After all, of the three, he’s the only pitcher guaranteed to be here in 2021, and more than that, right now, in 2020, he’s the best pitcher of the three. Considering the strides he made last year, he may even prove to be more than that.
Let’s get it out of the way. The best promotions of every season is the bobbleheads, and there are some good ones with Pete Alonso, Jacob deGrom, Jeff McNeil, Amed Rosario, Noah Syndergaard, and Robinson Cano having their own bobblehead days. In fact, with Alonso having a Marvel superhero bobblehead, there are two for him.
Those are always the best and most fun, but that’s only if you can get them. Fact is, the lines are way too long for them, and those lines can get a bit aggressive with people pushing forward to try to get one of the bobbleheads. Up until the Mets choose to be like big market teams like the Milwaukee Brewers, we’re just going to have to deal with the unnecessary inconvenience the Mets create by having bobbleheads for roughly half of those in attendance.
The good news for parents is the bobbleheads aren’t the only fun promotions during the 2020 season. There is also the Michael Conforto Funko Pop on August 25th, but it is safe to assume that day will have bobblehead type issues. Looking at the schedule, here are some other fun ones specifically geared towards kids:
April 19 – Player Poster
May 31 – Player Poster
July 5 – Player Poster
July 19 – Slime
August 2 – Toy Truck
August 16 – Baseball cards
August 30 – Player Poster
In terms of the player posters, the specific players have not yet been named. However, as we saw when the Mets were miked, Dominic Smith especially, this is a fun and likeable Mets team. Chances are any poster you get is going to be great.
The same goes for the baseball cards.
The toy truck and slime are fun because those are more traditional kids toys, but they will have a Mets theme to them. If your kid loves baseball, that’s right up their alley.
Of course, no discussion on fun promotions for kids is complete without mentioning the Mr. Met Dash. In terms of the Mr. Met Dash, be prepared.
Be ready to leave the game early and wait on line. That can be partially circumvented by joining the Mr. Met Kids’ Club, but only partially.
Another note is the Mets don’t do it for Sunday Night Baseball, so before you get your tickets just make sure the matchup isn’t one which could get flexed to prime time.
One final note here is if you think your children are old enough to learn about and appreciate Mets history, go to the June 13 game when Jerry Koosman‘s 36 is going to be retired.
Overall, Citi Field is a fun place for kids, especially for Sunday day games. Take advantage of it and help make your child a lifelong Mets fan.