Tag: L.A. Dodgers

Dodgers coach’s faulty COVID prevention practice is another embarrassment for MLB

Bob Geren did exactly what you shouldn’t do with a mask.

L.A. Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren did one of the many things you shouldn’t do with a mask during a broadcast of his team’s 11-2 over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night.

Geren pulled down his mask to cough.

While the moment was quick and seemingly small, it felt much bigger in the context of MLB’s turbulent and, perhaps, disastrous season. It’s yet another example of the league’s failures amid a shortened season during the novel coronavirus pandemic. There was a sense that MLB would fail to launch. Now that the season is finally underway, it’s fair to wonder whether it will last much longer.

The Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals are experiencing outbreaks in their locker rooms while leagues like the NBA, NHL, WNBA and NWSL have been able to keep positive tests at zero after initially quarantining anyone who was COVID-positive at the start of the season. The outbreak in MLB has left players and commissioner Rob Manfred pointing fingers at one another.

It’s an embarrassment, which is why Geren’s simple gesture of pulling down his mask to cough feels like a big moment. His inability to cough into his mask — like the CDC recommends — feels representative of the league’s failures as whole. MLB is failing to safely operate during the pandemic, and unless it changes its way of doing things, the league may have to cancel.

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Why the Mookie Betts blockbuster fell apart and what could happen next

It’s probably still going to happen. Maybe.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox had agreed upon a blockbuster to send outfielder Mookie Betts and David Price to L.A. in a three-team trade with the Minnesota Twins, according to multiple reports.

But that mega-deal fell apart this weekend, per multiple reports.

The Red Sox received the medical documentation for Twins right-hander Brusdar Graterol and Dodgers outfielder Alex Verdugo, the two players Boston acquired in the deal. But the Sox weren’t pleased, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Graterol’s medical records caused Boston to view him as more of a reliever than a starter, which meant his value wasn’t quite what the Sox had hoped (even if reports indicate Boston shouldn’t have been surprised with these findings).

This complication comes while Boston media and fans have skewered the organization for the move. The Red Sox bailed on Betts, the 2018 MVP, and Price in a transparent effort to get below MLB’s luxury-tax threshold to get back to the minimum penalty rate.

The three teams are still interested in getting the deal done, per Rosenthal. The Sox, however, seem less interested in completing the deal than before — perhaps because the court of public opinion has shifted the ownership group’s view on the trade. Their hesitance surrounding Graterol nearly pushed the Twins out of the deal entirely, per a report from the Star Tribune on Saturday. On Sunday, however, the three teams still seem to be in communication.

So how might the deal change? Here’s what reporters are saying.

It seems this trade has practically reverted back to square one. The Dodgers may need to find a new third team to appease the Red Sox’s demands for elite prospects (and, apparently, one who is a starter). Or perhaps L.A. and Minnesota can find a way to amass enough talent to appease Boston.

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