Dodgers President Stan Kasten On Marlins COVID-19 Outbreak: 'I Do Think We Expected Something Like This At Some Point'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Major League Baseball woke up Monday to concerning news coming out of Philadelphia.
After reports Sunday indicated that four Miami Marlins players had tested positive for COVID-19, new report indicated that another eight players and two staff members had tested positive by Monday morning.
With that news, the league decided to postpone games in Miami and Philadelphia scheduled for Monday night. However, the rest of the league is set to keep on playing. Los Angeles Dodgers President and CEO Stan Kasten joined MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM Monday and said that the league was expecting something along these lines to happen at some point.
"I don't believe there's going to be any panic just yet. I think we understood there might be occasions like this, which is why we had our player pool as big as it is," said Kasten. "I don't really know what's going to happen to the Marlins because I don't know the extent of it just yet and who may or may not be infected and for how long they may be at risk. I guess we'll get an update on all of that."
Kasten went on to say that the outbreak happening now may help the league in terms of its learning process on protocols to better avoid this later in the season. He expressed optimism that the process will continue to evolve and the league will hopefully be able to avoid further outbreaks this season.
"My understanding from talking to other teams is that it's supposed to be business as usual at least for every other team. I know that the game in Miami and Philadelphia for tonight has been postponed. I don't know how we make it up or when. Maybe we'll learn all of those things today. But, I also think this is going to be an evolving process," said Kasten. "Hopefully, this is the worst outbreak we have for the rest of the season because it will teach us some things. But, I do think we expected something like this at some point. Maybe getting it out of the way early we'll help teach us things that will avoid repetitions of these going forward."
The Dodgers, after splitting a four-game set with the San Francisco Giants over the weekend, have an off day Monday before traveling to Houston to face the Astros.
