Another Year, Another Set of Health & Safety Protocols
With Spring Training in full swing and the regular season planned to begin on time, it seems like we’ll have a full season of baseball this year. As of Friday, with 34,541 COVID tests having been completed since the beginning of spring training, only 25 positive tests had been recorded amongst all players, non-roster invitees, and Tier 1/Tier 2 employees. A positivity rate of .07% is really remarkable to say the least. Some of this is certainly due to the nationwide decline in coronavirus cases and increased social consciousness. I write this as I watch Ronald Torreyes dig into the plate wearing a mask. But some of this is also due to the increased scrutiny and rigor of MLB’s health and safety protocols.
This year, in addition to frequent testing and intake isolation, players will be subject to additional restrictions on conduct. Players may not attend gatherings of more than 10 people, may not dine indoors, may not leave the hotel during road trips, and may not congregate in public settings. Unlike last year, members of the players’ households are covered within this protocol as well through expanded testing. These household members may travel with the team and attend spring training but are also subject to restrictions on behavior and conduct. This time around though the incentive for compliance is clearly enforced by a Compliance Officer, with both teams and players being subject to penalty (financial and disciplinary), for non-compliance. Just this morning, Cleveland isolated Jose Ramirez and Franmil Reyes for breaking protocols to dine indoors and get a haircut respectively.
Beyond this, MLB has also implemented enhanced contact tracing protocols. Within clubhouses and team facilities, players must wear Kinexon contact tracing devices at all times. These devices log proximity to other players and in the case of a positive test, can be used to determine which players must isolate for 7 days due to close contact. I won’t address the potential privacy risk here— which certainly does exist when an employer is collecting data on an employees physical location and proximity to others. All things considered though, it’s clear that through enhanced tracing, conduct policies, thorough enforcement, and expanded testing, baseball is taking coronavirus very serious this time around.
After last season was delayed, shortened, and faced stoppages in play, the prospect of realizing a full uninterrupted season is certainly tantalizing. And MLB has taken significant steps toward reducing the risk associated with this season. However, this will require a great amount of effort and new challenges as well.
To start, teams are traveling across the country again. As opposed to regionalized travel models that were used in 2020, this season will involve teams resuming normal road trips and taking swings across the coasts. As some states begin to lift coronavirus restrictions for the general public, the risk asymmetry that is present in MLB’s travel model will be tested. Take Texas for example. As Gov. Abbott eases general restrictions on the state, the Rangers and Astros may face greater pandemic related risk (both infection and stoppage in play). But their opponents will also bear a portion of that risk. Are the Angels, who play the Astros and Rangers back-to-back in April (when vaccine distribution is not projected to stamp out the pandemic), at a greater disadvantage than a team that may take their Texas road-trip in the fall?
This also leaves alone the stress-test on MLB’s protocols when the differential between league guidance and local permissibility may encourage more reckless behavior. I truly do not envy the position of the COVID compliance officer on each team that has to have the tough conversation with players on why they can’t dine indoors when everyone else in their state can. Or the even tougher conversation that may happen when an infraction has to be remediated.
And this also doesn’t address the roughly 15,000 elephants that are now allowed in the room: fans. I won’t lie, I’ve enjoyed hearing fans in the stands in the spring training games I’ve watched so far. There’s just something human about hearing people gasp appropriately on a hot shot down the line when compared to an AI that just increases volume at inappropriate moments. But attendance at games is managed by local jurisdictions which have given varying capacity restrictions to teams so far. And while some states are piloting negative test results for admission, others are going full-bore. This might be a competition issue, as some teams will be able to play in front of raucous crowds and others in desolate caverns. But it’s also a risk issue: not necessarily for players but for fans…and for staff. And MLB has punted on the responsibility here, drawing a line that takes increased responsibility for it’s in-group and defers responsibility on its constituents.
Finally, this conversation would be entirely incomplete without a discussion on the bottom-line: $$$. We’ve already seen diminished supply of tickets drive ticket prices up across the country. This could’ve been seen from miles away. A starved fan base will certainly pay top dollar to watch some baseball in person and feel normal again. This certainly won’t make up for all lost gate revenue but it’s certainly nice. In a broader sense, the whole season is happening because of the revenue at stake. MLB is not blind to the fact that they’re playing the pandemic. After all, they delayed the start of the AAA season one month in order to allow vaccinations to catch up to a point where the virus is more under control.
Doing the same for the MLB season however would be anathema. Compared to the minor leagues, there’s too much money potentially left on the table to delay the season and wait it out. And so we’re left with an enhanced set of protocols to help mitigate the risk, but also with a lot of questions on what comes next.