MLB to limit clubhouse access due to Coronavirus concerns

ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that Major League Baseball will limit clubhouse access to the media over Coronavirus concerns. The league still intends to play out the remainder of the spring training schedule and start the regular season on time.

Passan adds that MLB will monitor local markets and will consider its options if health authorities recommend games not to be played. A potential option is for teams to play games at other locations.

The NBA and NHL have also limited locker room access. Baseball players will be available in “press conference settings” as well as outside the clubhouse, but will be asked to conform to the CDC’s recommendation of keeping a six-foot distance from reporters, per Passan.

If the league really thinks Coronavirus is a big enough deal to limit media access — and it is — then it shouldn’t be scheduling games. The league wants to make money, though, which conflicts with doing what’s best for public health. By not cancelling spring training and regular season games (or rescheduling them), and by limiting media access, the league can both make its money and claim it is being proactive for the greater good.

In the short-term, the overall coverage of the sport will suffer, both in terms of original reporting and aggregation (what we do, mostly). The long-term concern is media access may not return to the way it was once we’ve made it through the Coronavirus pandemic. Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile, the saying goes.