Doubts growing over feasibility of MLB season

As money squabbles continue to stonewall the launch of Major League Baseball's pandemic-delayed 2020 season, the US government's top doctor has thrown another curveball into the mix.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times on Friday, Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said he would advise MLB to wrap up its entire season－including the playoffs－by the end of September in order to curb risks associated with an anticipated second wave of COVID-19.

Fauci's comments coincided with a report by Yahoo! Sports that six to eight MLB owners are now against the season happening in any form.

On Sunday, all 30 MLB training camps were "temporarily suspended" following reports that five players and three employees at the Philadelphia Phillies facility in Clearwater, Florida, tested positive for the coronavirus. Hours later, a Toronto Blue Jays player at the team's training compound in nearby Dunedin, showed symptoms, and a Houston Astros player tested positive in West Palm Beach.

The Wall Street Journal reported that 11 players from seven teams' 40-man rosters have tested positive since the start of June.

MLB and its players' union last week suspended active negotiations after a series of proposals and counter-proposals did little more than accentuate the differences between the two sides.

A letter distributed to players after union head Tony Clark and commissioner Rob Manfred met on June 16 cited "a number of significant issues" and stated "there certainly were no tentative agreements reached", according to a copy of the letter obtained by Yahoo! Sports.

The primary issue was Manfred's proposal for 60 games with 100-percent prorated salaries. The union has consistently proposed more games－as many as 114－at the same rate. And without an agreement on prorated salaries and proper health and safety protocols, the training camps necessary for a July launch are out of the question.

Fauci's stand further complicates the issue.

"The likelihood is that, if you stick to the core summer months you are better off, even though there is no guarantee. If you look at the kinds of things that could happen, there's no guarantee of anything. You would want to play at a time when there isn't the overlap between influenza and the possibility of a fall second wave of COVID-19," Fauci told the LA Times.

"I would try to keep the season in the core summer months and end the season not with the way we play the World Series, until the end of October when it's cold－I would avoid that."

The players have proposed playing through November, while the owners have consistently proposed an October postseason.

Meanwhile, in an interview with ESPN last week, former Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora opened up on his role in the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal.

According to an MLB investigation, Cora's role in the Astros' high-tech scheme to illegally steal and relay signs through the use of hidden cameras in their run to the 2017 World Series championship was clear and he received a one-year suspension.

"I deserve my suspension and I'm paying the price for my actions," Cora told ESPN. "And I am not proud of what happened. We made a mistake as a group, the entire (Astros) team.

"What happened was something that, if you ask anyone involved, no one is proud of it. We're all at fault. Everybody."