After postponing their last two games, the New York Yankees can resume play on Wednesday.

They were supposed to play the Philadelphia Phillies, but that was put on hold after more than a dozen players and staff on the Miami Marlins tested positive for coronavirus following a series in Philadelphia. 

What You Need To Know

  • MLB season may be in jeopardy after virus outbreak

  • Governor cuomo says all MLB games can be played in New York State, instead of traveling from city to city.

  • Cuomo says positive infection rate is below 1%, which was accomplished after several hard-fought months battling the virus

  • But Cuomo has been trying to limit visitors to New York from states where cases are surging

The shortened baseball season has only been underway for a few days, but now the entire experiment could be in jeopardy.

That prompted Governor Cuomo, an early champion of bringing back baseball in the age of COVID-19, to float an idea.

“Here’s my suggestion: I understand the challenges they are facing; New York State could host any Major League Baseball game that any teams wants to play, and they can play those games in our stadiums,” Cuomo said Tuesday during a press briefing.

According to the governor, there are enough stadiums and facilities to hold all the games across New York State. With the New York infection rate now below 1%, a feat that took months to accomplish, he thinks New York is ready to host all those teams — even if they come from states where COVID-19 cases are surging. 

“We will set up a health protocol. They could fly their team in on a private aircraft. They could go from an airport to a hotel where they would be quarantined. We could test everyone,” Cuomo explained.

In the same conference call where he extended his invitation to Major League Baseball, Cuomo announced that visitors from more jurisdictions will now be subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine when they come to New York. The latest additions include Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico, bringing the total to 34. 

Essential workers are not subject to the same quarantine rules, though. Cuomo was asked if baseball players would fall into that category. 

“For baseball players, teams coming in to play, we create a third, separate, new protocol. It’s very restrictive. You can only come in to play ball,” Cuomo said.

Whether it’s realistic or not to think New York State could be prepared to handle the logistics of having all of those games played here, critics say this is the kind of thing that would have needed to be planned weeks ago, long before the season started. To try after it’s already underway seems a very difficult undertaking.