The MLB season is already in jeopardy after the Marlins played a game despite a 'clear outbreak' of COVID-19 on the team

• The Miami Marlins have MLB's first COVID-19 outbreak with 14 cases.
• The team played a game on Sunday despite already having four positive cases.
• The Marlins' game on Monday has been canceled, as has a game between the Phillies and Yankees due to the Marlins' presence in Philadelphia.
• There is speculation that the MLB season is now in jeopardy, as MLB attempts to play its season with regular travel as opposed to a bubble.

The 2020 MLB season is in jeopardy after the Miami Marlins experienced baseball's first major outbreak of COVID-19.

The Marlins played against the Philadelphia Phillies in Philadelphia on Sunday despite four players testing positive for the novel coronavirus.

According to Jayson Stark and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, two "infectious-disease specialists" said the four cases qualified as a "clear outbreak." Yet MLB and the Marlins did not seriously consider not playing on Sunday, according to The Athletic.

On Monday, it was reported that eight more players and two coaches tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the team's total cases to 14. The Marlins stayed in Philadelphia, and their home opener against the Baltimore Orioles, scheduled for Monday, has been canceled.

According to The Athletic, Marlins players discussed the situation pregame and decided to play.

The ripple effects and possible cancelation of the season

According to Craig Mish of SportsGrid, there is already speculation about the season being canceled.

The Marlins and MLB did not respond to a request for comment on the possibility of canceling the season and if there are existing protocols for canceling the season. According to Lindsey Adler of The Athletic, the decision is in the hands of MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.

Manfred had previously told Dan Patrick that to cancel the season, a team or teams would have to miss multiple games because of an outbreak, thus altering the competitive balance of the season.

The ripple effects are clear to see. The Phillies played the Marlins on Sunday and are quarantining their visiting clubhouse staff, according to Matt Gelb of The Athletic.

The New York Yankees-Phillies game has also been canceled, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The Yankees were reportedly nervous about playing in the visiting clubhouse, where the Marlins players were.

Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported that the Phillies visiting clubhouse is being "fumigated" as a safety measure.

In MLB, members of "Tier 1" — players, coaches, and managers — are tested every day with saliva-based testing. According to The Athletic, some teams are trying to use rapid-care tests to get quicker information on players, though the tests fall outside of the league's official testing program.

The Marlins outbreak poses questions about the viability of sports outside of a "bubble" like the NBA, MLS, and WNBA are currently using. With occasion lags in testing, "false" negative test results, traveling, and every-other-day testing, the possibility for further outbreaks is clear and harder to avoid.

When Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz tested positive for the coronavirus in March, the NBA immediately shut down its season. MLB, of all of the major American sports playing right now, is most like the NBA back in March, with teams still traveling and the path to spreading of the virus most clear.

One team executive told The Athletic: "This whole thing has the makings of MLB's worst nightmare."