Many MLB fans got excited when it was revealed the league was formulating a potential plan to bring baseball back by May or June. For that to happen, the league needs players to buy in and its biggest star just pushed back on the idea.
In an interview with NBC Sports, Trout opened up about his concerns with MLB’s plan. Specifically, the idea of quarantining players in hotels for months and potentially keeping them away from their families.
While there has been some discussion about allowing players to bring their immediate family with them, even that scenario causes problems. Beyond the cost and difficulty of isolating all 30 teams with the possibility of 50-man rosters for each, there are other complications when housing family members for players, coaches and staff.
The situation would be especially difficult for those with young children or a baby on the way, which is the situation Trout and his wife are in.
My wife is pregnant, what am I going to do when she goes into labor — am I going to have to quarantine for two weeks after I come back? Obviously I can’t miss the birth of our first child,” Trout said, via NBC Sports. There are a lot of red flags, there are a lot of questions. Obviously, we would have to agree on it as players. I think the mentality is that we want to get back as soon as we can. But it has to be realistic. It can’t be sitting in our hotel rooms, and just going from the field to the hotel room and not being able to do anything. I think that’s pretty crazy.”
Health officials and team owners can certainly approve the idea of isolating players and staff, only allowing them to stay in their hotels and play baseball in empty stadiums. However, players need to approve the proposal as well and they will be the people risking their health and the lives of their families for this to happen.
Everyone wants MLB to return as quickly and safely as possibly. But the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t improving and safety must come before baseball.