MLB in a statement noted teammates encouraged Justin Turner to return to the field for the team photo GETTY IMAGES
MLB on Friday said that it would not punish Dodgers 3B Justin Turner for his World Series actions, and while Commissioner Rob Manfred did not absolve Turner from "responsibility following a league investigation," he "cited decisions made by others, including league officials, that led to Turner leaving isolation to spend time on the field with the team and families," according to Jorge Castillo of the L.A. TIMES. MLB in a statement said that teammates "'actively encouraged' Turner to return to the field for the team photograph." Turner, according to Manfred’s statement, said that he "believed he received permission to emerge for the photo from 'at least one' Dodgers employee." Then "'at least two' Dodgers employees didn’t intercept Turner as he walked onto the field." Manfred said that those individuals "acknowledged that not trying to stop Turner gave him the impression it wasn’t a problem." On the field, according to Manfred, "'an unidentified person' told Turner that other players had tested positive for coronavirus, causing Turner to believe he was being 'singled out for isolation.'" Manfred: “Major League Baseball could have handled the situation more effectively. ... In retrospect, a security person should have been assigned to monitor Mr. Turner when he was asked to isolate, and Mr. Turner should have been transported from the stadium to the hotel more promptly” (L.A. TIMES, 11/7).
TURNER OWED AN APOLOGY: In L.A., Bill Shaikin noted the investigation "made clear the situation was more complex than Turner escaping an isolation room and charging onto the field to celebrate despite testing positive for the coronavirus." Yet, in the statement Manfred issued Friday, he "used none of his 472 words to apologize to Turner for authorizing the league to paint him as an unqualified villain." Turner "should have known better," but there was "no gray area in the words the league used on the morning after the Dodgers’ celebration." Turner was "isolated to prevent the spread of a potentially deadly virus," but no one was "responsible for ensuring he wouldn’t leave the isolation room." That is a "spectacular failure, and that is not on Turner." It is "unlikely the virus will be controlled by the time next season starts," so MLB ought to "learn from this situation as it updates its health and safety protocols" (L.A. TIMES, 11/7).
