Matt Barnes wants players around Major League Baseball to take the league’s restrictions more seriously.
The Red Sox right-hander, while speaking to reporters Saturday before Boston’s game against the New York Yankees, touched on the current state of the league. It comes as the Miami Marlins, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals find themselves on the sidelines due to respective COVID-19 outbreaks.
“I think there are some people who have made some poor decisions off the field and I think we can get better,” Barnes said, per The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier. “If we don’t do a better job this may very well get shut down.”
Barnes, unfortunately, is correct.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred reportedly told MLBPA executive director Tony Clark on Friday that if the sport doesn’t do a better job, it could shut down for the season.
The leagues was already forced to suspend Miami’s games throughout the week as 20 in the organization tested positive. The Cardinals had a pair of positive cases themselves while the Phillies are hoping their positive COVID-19 tests were “false positives,” according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Either way, players and organizations around the league would be wise to listen to Barnes’ advice. If not, unfortunately, the season may be subject to a potential cancellation.
