MLB Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak said the "tight rooms" the team shared when they were staying in Minneapolis may have been what led to the team's coronavirus outbreak, according to Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com. Mozeliak said, "Some people thought they were healthy and they weren't and they had close contact in terms of discussions. At the time, if I had to guess, they were mask-less." Rogers noted the team has been "adamant that the players weren't as reckless as is being portrayed in the media." Cardinals manager Mike Shildt on Friday said it "would be very irresponsible and a misstep to say this group went out and did anything that was egregious," as to "say something otherwise would be inaccurate." Mozeliak "backed up those comments on Saturday morning but vowed further tightening of protocols, especially when it comes to eating" (ESPN.com, 8/15).
GAME-DAY CHANGES: In St. Louis, Derrick Goold reported "'Ball Talk,' a fundamental part of the Cardinals’ pregame prep and chemistry since Shildt took over as manager, is now done in small groups of about four and outside." For night games, "more meetings will be held outside." The training staff for the team's restart in Chicago this weekend "presented players with masks to wear in the dugout as soon as they walked in." The team also had "stricter social distancing guidelines in the dugout, and players not in the lineup were not in the dugout." There will be "changes at Busch Stadium, too." For example, "tables have been set up on the concourses to encourage players to eat apart" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 8/16).
AROUND THE LEAGUE: In N.Y., Tyler Kepner notes "very few major leaguers are testing positive." MLB on Friday announced that "out of 12,301 tests conducted last week, there had been only four positives, all from the Cardinals." But the Reds news "offered a stark reminder of the challenges that the Cardinals ... have endured." Mozeliak said, "My hope is people realize it can happen to anybody. I really think the success of Major League Baseball is following tight protocols, following the three things we all hear about: washing our hands, wearing masks, social distancing. But it’s also going to be about luck" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/17).
EXECS' EYE: YAHOO SPORTS' Hannah Keyser noted "at no point in the first three weeks of a baseball season that has included mass coronavirus outbreaks" on two teams -- the Marlins and Cardinals -- and "league-wide fallout from the ensuing disruptions has Major League Baseball considered calling off the whole thing." MLB Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem on Thursday said, "We haven't gotten to the point where [MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred] has seriously considered canceling the season. And hopefully we will never get to that point.” MLB’s top officials are "confident that they’ve learned enough from those two outbreaks, and have been encouraged enough by the lack of positives on other teams, to sustain the remainder of a regular season played in home ballparks." MLB VP/Investigations & Deputy General Counsel Moira Weinberg explained, "The spread is coming from human error. I think what happens is people know the people around them are being tested either every day or every other day, and they're in such a tight group that they traveled together and they spend so much time together that there's a natural letting down your guard a little bit" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 8/14).
