Menu
Franchises

Cards' Schedule Seemingly Stretched To Limit With Latest Postponement

Yadier Molina is one of the Cardinals players who tested positive for COVID-19GETTY IMAGES

The most recent positive tests on the Cardinals led MLB to postpone their series against the Pirates, meaning the team has 46 "days remaining on their schedule with 55 games to play," according to Derrick Goold of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. The Cardinals' next scheduled game is a doubleheader in Detroit against the Tigers on Thursday, but there is "some question whether the team should be asked to return from a two-week hiatus with limited workouts to immediately travel and play a doubleheader." By Thursday, every pitcher on the staff will have "gone two weeks without a pitch against an opponent." How to "arrange the schedule and protect against injury will have to be sorted out in the near future" by the Cardinals and MLB. Asked if he saw a way to fit a complete schedule into the shorter time, Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak on Friday it was "mathematically" difficult (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 8/10). ESPN’s Buster Olney: “Baseball has to get off the idea that all these teams are going to play 60 games and be comfortable with the idea that some teams might play 48. Some might play 55. Some teams might play 60, but the Cardinals at this point are so far behind.” Olney noted Mozeliak sounded "despondent" when speaking to reporters (“KT Wiz-Hanwha Eagles,” ESPN, 8/9).

NO BUBBLE TROUBLE: CBSSPORTS.com's R.J. Anderson wrote it is "not a coincidence" that MLB, which is not playing in a bubble like the NBA, NHL or MLS, has a season that is "endangered." MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is the "overseer of a league that has had, in two weeks' time, two COVID-19 outbreaks; that has had to sideline 20 percent of the league due to those outbreaks; that has a team who is unable to enter its host country; that has seen more and more veteran players opt out instead of playing on; and that has already seen one player lost for the season due to the heart ailment developed because of a bout with COVID." Manfred "may not have plans to quit, but perhaps he has regrets." Anderson: "It's fair to wonder: did MLB err by eschewing a bubble?" (CBSSPORTS.com, 8/9).

SHUT IT DOWN? In Pittsburgh, Ron Cook writes it is "entirely reasonable to suggest MLB should shut down after not one, but two of its teams ... have been ravaged by a COVID-19 outbreak." There were a "total of 24 games postponed through Sunday because of COVID-19." There "hasn’t been a day since July 26 ... that at least one game hasn’t been postponed." Cook: "What happens if there are more? Really, what happens if there is another outbreak? ... But MLB forges ahead. I get it. It has millions and millions of reasons to play the games. ... I’m hoping for the best but prepared for the worst" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 8/10).

HIGHEST STANDARDS: ESPN’s Jeff Passan noted the Indians yesterday sent P Zach Plesac home for violating COVID protocols, adding, “This is not a surprise that the Indians in particular are holding Zach Plesac to these sorts of standards. In conversations with executives around baseball, I’ve been asking, 'Who are the best teams in terms of stringent protocols that you’ve seen on the road?' ... Again and again, I have heard the Cleveland Indians’ name” (“Baseball Tonight,” ESPN, 8/9).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2020/08/10/Franchises/MLB-Cardinals.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2020/08/10/Franchises/MLB-Cardinals.aspx

CLOSE