Nationals don’t want to go to Miami, so what can MLB do about it?

The Washington Nationals won’t go to Miami to play the Marlins this weekend

The Washington Nationals may play the Miami Marlins this weekend, but, if they have their way, it won’t be in Miami.

The Nationals can be forgiven for not wanting to go anywhere near Miami right now. On Tuesday, an additional 3,000 COVID-19 cases were reported in Miami-Dade County. Lilian Abbo, an infectious disease expert with the Jackson Health System, said during a conference call with Miami’s mayor last week “Miami is now the epicenter of the pandemic.”

So the Nationals decided to do something about it, voting overwhelmingly on Tuesday not to travel to Miami to play the Marlins in a three-game series beginning on Friday. The question now is what can Major League Baseball do about it: force the Nationals to play, or listen to what are legitimate concerns?

The Marlins have experienced an outbreak of COVID-19 among their club. An additional four people tested positive on Tuesday, bringing the total to 17, including at least 11 players. Miami’s game against Baltimore on Monday was postponed; so has their game on Tuesday, and it remains a long shot whether they’ll be able to field a competitive roster on Wednesday or Thursday, either.

This is what commissioner Rob Manfred was thinking about when he was said he would consider shutting down the sport if “competitive integrity” was diminished. Even if the Marlins return to play this week, their roster would look like a minor league team. But he said on Monday, after the initial outbreak on the club was revealed, the owners did not seriously discuss postponing the season during their conference call.

There are some options for the Marlins and Nationals going forward, neither of them good. The Marlins, like the Toronto Blue Jays, can relocate for the near future to their Triple-A ballpark. Their affiliate plays at Riverfront Stadium in Wichita, Kansas, a new ballpark that has not hosted a game yet. It was supposed to open this year before the pandemic forced the cancelation of the minor league season.

Or the Marlins can stay on the road, at least for the time being. That would put the players at a competitive disadvantage having to live out of a suitcase while their opponents have all the amenities of their home parks.. But, from a fan’s perspective, it doesn’t matter where they play if no fans are going to be there anyway.

The Nationals are right to feel a little cautious. They’ve experienced their own loss as a result of a positive test; star outfielder Juan Soto still hasn’t returned to play, despite testing negative six times over the last week. Manager Dave Martinez was near tears on Monday when talking about his concern about playing right now. “I’m going to be honest with you, I’m scared. My level of concern went from an eight to a 12,” he said. The 55-year-old had a heart procedure last September, putting him in the at-risk category.

Postponing the season, even for a week, would be a scenario of last resort for Manfred and the league. He has the authority to force the Nationals to play their series this weekend or forfeit the games, but that would be a public relations nightmare. Manfred’s reputation among the general public is already low as a result of the lingering financial disputes that put off the start of the season by several weeks.

The season is on the brink. What the league does when a club refuses to travel to a virus hotspot puts all the protocols they formulated into question. Baseball is still going forward, but for how much longer depends on how the league handles the next few days.