Giants suspend workouts as they wait for coronavirus test results

The San Francisco Giants announced on Tuesday that they would be suspending their team workouts as they are still awaiting the results of their coronavirus tests from the weekend. The team took tests on Saturday as part of MLB’s safety protocol, which mandates tests every other day.

But apparently those results have yet to come back.

The Giants are not alone in this regard. On Monday, four different MLB teams canceled workouts because they had yet to receive the results of their Friday intake tests. MLB claimed that the holiday weekend was the primary cause of the delay, but since the league is hiring a private laboratory in Utah to handle testing, there really aren’t any excuses that hold much water.

Not surprisingly, many players — including Chicago Cubs star and former NL MVP Kris Bryant — have taken to criticizing the league’s handling of testing. Other stars — including the sport’s best player, Mike Trout, and the Giants own Buster Posey — have openly considered the idea of opting out of the 2020 season altogether.

It’s clear that the league needs to figure things out quickly. The season is slated to start on July 23, and there’s no way teams will sign off on playing if it takes three or four days to receive test results. That kind of negates the whole point of frequent testing.

For now, the Giants will have to sit on the sidelines and wait for the results from their weekend tests. They’ve already had four members of the organization test positive for the coronavirus — outfield prospect Hunter Bishop, non-roster invitee pitcher Luis Madero, and two currently anonymous “individuals.”

It would appear that perhaps the league put a little bit too much energy into finding ways to not pay the players, and forgot to make sure they had a testing protocol that actually functioned.