#MLB teams can’t announce names of players who have coronavirus

MLB and the players association agreed that bulk test results for COVID-19 will be released to the public, but teams cannot announce individual players who test positive, The Post has learned.

All 30 clubs were doing intake testing Wednesday and Thursday before the majority open spring training 2.0 on Friday. It will be the first mass collection of not just players, but all those who MLB designates as Tier 1 (also on-field personnel such as coaches, managers and medical personnel who interact daily with the players) and Tier 2 (others deemed essential personnel, including select front-office members).

The union has always defended player privacy when it comes to health issues not incurred while at the workplace. So the agreement with MLB was to have a positive COVID-19 test fall under the category in the collective bargaining agreement covering other medical conditions in which the team could announce that a player is unavailable and how long he might be unavailable, but not give a specific reason for the absence.

But when a player is either put on the injured list or replaced on the active roster with no explanation beyond a generic medical reason, that will likely point to COVID as the reason. It will be up to individual players, though, if they want to explain their absence.

The league’s plan is announce overall tests conducted, the number of positive tests for COVID and the percentage of positive tests. But the league will not, by agreement, be allowed to say how many of the total positives were active players. MLB also does not yet have a plan for how often it intends to release bulk test results, but the likelihood is at least once a week.

Players can be placed on the COVID-19 Related Injury List for three reasons: 1. A positive test; 2. An evaluation by medical personnel who believes he needs to be put on the list; 3. Exposure to those who have tested positive. But there will not be a public announcement that the player was put on the new COVID list.

As part of the Basic Agreement, clubs are allowed for public relations purposes to announce employment-related injuries with what the injury is, what the expected absence is and what kind of treatment was recommended. For any other medical conditions that keep a player from rendering services, teams can only disclose that a medical condition is preventing a player from playing and how long the player is expected to be absent. Players who test positive for COVID will fall under the latter umbrella.