New York is making it more difficult for people to travel in and out of the state.
But Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo wants to make one very specific exception: Major League Baseball teams.
In the wake of some games being canceled due to coronavirus outbreaks, Cuomo on Tuesday used part of his almost-daily briefing to invite the big leaguers to take the field in New York.
He did not specify any particular stadiums where games would potentially be played. Buffalo's Sahlen Field will be the home ballpark for Toronto Blue Jays home games during this summer's abbreviated MLB season. New York City, of course, hosts games for the New York Mets and Yankees.
New York State could host "any" game that teams want to play in stadiums in New York, Cuomo said.
"I offer to Major League Baseball: If you're having problems playing in other states, come play here," he said.
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Cuomo made the offer even as New York added three states – Illinois, Kentucky and Minnesota, as well as Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, to its traveler quarantine list, increasing the list of states to 34.
Travelers coming from high-risk states on the list are to quarantine for 14 days; penalties include fines.
The pandemic that has created the need for such practices has not spared Major League Baseball, which returned to action last week in virtually empty stadiums. The Miami Marlins have had 17 team members test positive for the coronavirus as of Tuesday. The outbreak caused the cancellation of four games that were to be played Monday and Tuesday.
On Tuesday afternoon, Major League Baseball announced that Marlins games would be postponed until Monday due to the outbreak.
But Cuomo said the state has the testing resources to host major league games, while New York's coronavirus metrics continue to decrease.
"New York State would host any Major League Baseball game that any teams want to play, and they could play those games in our stadiums," Cuomo said. "New York State has one of the lowest infection rates in the United States. New York State has a full Department of Health protocol system in place. We have a testing system in place."
Cuomo said that to account for the state's travel quarantine list, which requires travelers from high-risk states to quarantine upon their arrival here, players and team personnel would be subject to a "very restrictive" protocol. He said individuals would be quarantined for their travels and upon their arrival, tested at a team hotel.
"You can only come in to play ball," Cuomo said. "And you must agree, before you come, to what we call a mandatory quarantine hotel ... mandatory quarantine is you must be quarantined. If you leave you violate the law.
"In mandatory quarantine, they cannot leave the hotel. They get tested. They test negative, they go play ball, they finish playing ball, they leave."
That scenario seems to line up with what Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said Tuesday regarding guidance from New York about players who will be playing in Buffalo after coming from any of the 34 states on New York's quarantine list.
Poloncarz said that, in keeping with state law, any players coming from any of the high-risk states will have to be quarantined when they arrive in Buffalo.
"They would have to be quarantined, one per person in a hotel room, cannot leave the hotel until such time as they’re taken to the game,” he said.
In light of the Marlins outbreak, Poloncarz said the county has sent a new series of questions, comments and concerns to Major League Baseball and the Buffalo Bisons regarding how teams can play safely in Buffalo.
"There’s an outbreak – there’s no doubt about it," Poloncarz said. "So I am concerned."
The Marlins are scheduled to be the Blue Jays' first opponent Aug. 11 at Sahlen Field.
"I don’t even know how they’re going to field a team at this point," Poloncarz said of the Florida team.
The county executive said that with the delay in the Blue Jays coming to play their first home game in Buffalo, he’s hopeful all questions will be answered by then.
The other New York teams have already played home games against teams from quarantine states or played road games in high-risk states.
The Yankees had two games rescheduled due to the outbreak, and instead of playing at Philadelphia will play at Baltimore Wednesday and Thursday. Maryland, and Baltimore in particular, have seen a significant rise in recent cases.
An email to the governor's office asking for additional details on Cuomo's offer to MLB was not returned.
Cuomo said having more games in New York "would be incredibly exciting."
"The more games that we could have played here, the more games that could be televised, would be great for the economy and for morale," Cuomo said.
"I think it would be great for New Yorkers and Americans. I would love to see a robust baseball season. ... I offer that for what it's worth."
New York's infection rate continued to hover near 1%. The positive test rate Monday was 0.93%, as there were 534 positives among 57,397 statewide tests.
The state's total number of hospitalizations was 648. Nine people died of the coronavirus Monday.
For the Western New York region, which consists of Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany counties, the infection rate for Monday was also 0.93%. There were 4,078 tests and 38 positives.
News Staff Reporter Sandra Tan contributed to this story.
