Quarantine Injuries

[Cardinals]

Looks like we'll have baseball which will wreak havoc on our ILs this season no doubt.

With that said, I propose we do not count COVID-19 injuries as injuries in the IBC. It is not within the spirit of our injury rules. For example, if Fernando Tatis Jr. goes on the IL with a week left in the season because of coronavirus, it seems as though that player should remain eligible to play.

Our rules didn't call for accounting for pandemics. If a player breaks his hand, yeah, sure he should be out. But I think we should draw a line in the sand on COVID quarantine injuries, even if they're on the IL.

[Guardians]

I'm fine with that.

[Padres]

I am okay with the above but John Brebbia (IBC Padres) needs to be DL ... recently undertwent TJ.

[Padres]

To be specific does this apply to players who choose not to play in 2020 because they have underlying conditions (i.e., Kyle Ginson)? I believe it should.

[Guardians]

I think we're basically operating under the notion that the only guys "injured" are guys having surgery or who have real injuries from playing (oblique, hammy, etc)

[Cardinals]

To be specific does this apply to players who choose not to play in 2020 because they have underlying conditions (i.e., Kyle Ginson)? I believe it should.

If Gibson sits out because he doesn't want to get corona because it may kill him, Gibson should be in.

I think it just goes back to the spirit of our rule - to keep injured players out. It's different from Mancini who is incapable of playing.

[Cardinals]

Thinking through this further, it's an advantage to have a player who opts out.

Desmond, Zimmerman, Ross, Leake - they're all opting out. Those players are slightly more valuable than they were yesterday if we allow them to play since they cannot get injured.

Hopefully the list remains small so this can be sort of edge case/not a big deal territory, but if superstars start opting out, we could have a bit of a mess.

[Guardians]

We sort of set out down a path this year of allowing players to play unless they're "hurt," not "infected." JP and i discussed this yesterday, so I think we're both thinking of the issues. Having a player play in mlb and get hurt so I lose him in ibc and my opponent has a player opt out of mlb and play in ibc sucks. I think this whole season is kind of an asterisk anyway. But if we reverse course somewhat and start benching players who opt out, it makes things pretty murky. I do hope we're talking vets/borderline players and not stars, but I tend to land on the side of letting covid players (opt outs or sick) play and if playing players get hurt, they're hurt. I don't like it, but changing course in July makes things worse, I think.

[Cardinals]

We sort of set out down a path this year of allowing players to play unless they're "hurt," not "infected." JP and i discussed this yesterday, so I think we're both thinking of the issues. Having a player play in mlb and get hurt so I lose him in ibc and my opponent has a player opt out of mlb and play in ibc sucks. I think this whole season is kind of an asterisk anyway. But if we reverse course somewhat and start benching players who opt out, it makes things pretty murky. I do hope we're talking vets/borderline players and not stars, but I tend to land on the side of letting covid players (opt outs or sick) play and if playing players get hurt, they're hurt. I don't like it, but changing course in July makes things worse, I think.

Yeah, as Pat mentioned, we were talking through it yesterday. There are really four scenarios.

1.) COVID injuries count. If you're not playing, you're out.
2.) COVID injuries don't count, period.
3.) COVID injuries don't count, but if you opt out, you are ineligible in the IBC since you are unable to get injured, and all other players are.
4.) No additional injuries this season, period.

I think #1 is not in the spirit of our injury rules so I think we can agree to toss that immediately.

I honestly err on options 2 or 4 here. I agree with Pat, we all know that this season is different, though I'm not putting an asterisk on it (just go talk to Jag if you want to hear his opinion on 2020).

The reason I even bring up four is that we've been playing 2020 with this particular set of rules and this has the least amount of impact on what we've set forth for the first half of a season. I think this is the least disruptive to what we've done for nearly 90 games. It's not ideal, but if our goal is the least disruption, that's it.

If we're trying to do a blend of keeping the IL true to our rules, then it's going to be options 2 or 3. Supposedly, MLB has its own IL list for COVID and we won't even know who is on it. That's probably good. So it's a matter of if we want to allow those who opt out to play. For instance, what if Giancarlo Stanton opts out? He's made of glass and is more likely than anybody else to get injured. But if we choose to allow him to play, his value gets a pretty big boost relative to other players.

I don't have a "vote" yet to cast, but that's where my thinking is at currently. I think the answer is 2 or 4.

[Guardians]

Of these options, I lean toward #2. COVID injuries don't count and opt-outs don't count. Essentially, we only count guys who hit the DL with a break, major strain, surgery, etc. that requires a DL stay.

[Dodgers]

I like option 2 the most of these, but I think it should be mentioned that we also have the issue of minor leaguers not being able to get hurt as well. Granted, they usually aren’t the most impactful players, but they also increase in value by not making the 60 man rosters.

[Astros]

2 for me

[Padres]

As I indicated previously ... 2 is where I am at with this issue.

[Rangers]

4 continues to be my preference but I don’t have a big issue with 2.