Editor’s note: More people developed symptoms on Wednesday afternoon, meaning the ailment stems from a virus rather than a foodborne illness. As a result, MLB canceled the remainder of the GM meetings.
If it seems that baseball news is developing slowly, perhaps that’s because executives’ bowels are moving too quickly. More than 30 of the 300 or so officials in attendance have come down with an undetermined stomach ailment at Major League Baseball’s annual offseason kickoff event. The GM meetings have become the GI meetings.
Some executives have spent the week in breakout sessions. Others have spent it in outbreak sessions. The provenance of the disease is not clear, nor is its type, said a person in position to know. It could be foodborne illness, in which case it likely originated with Tuesday’s lunch buffet, the only common meal among those stricken, or it could be an infectious norovirus. No one has been reported sick since Wednesday morning, which would suggest food poisoning, but some of the people who became sick have reported that they did not eat at the buffet, which might mean the disease is infectious. If more people become sick, the league would likely shut down the meetings, which are scheduled to end on Thursday morning, a day early.
MLB declined to comment.
Out of an abundance of caution, the league requested food servers at the Omni Montelucia Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz., site of the event, wear masks and gloves on Wednesday and barred executives from serving themselves. The league also sent a memo to teams, asking them to report illnesses so officials can track the outbreak, and offering assistance from the Diamondbacks’ team doctors. Nearly every team has been hit, as has the league office, which has seen some eight officials felled.
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Yankees GM Brian Cashman, whose staff suffered four illnesses, said with a grin that he was skipping the buffet on Wednesday. “I’m getting a burger,” he said.
The good news for MLB is that the GM meetings are almost over. They’re almost done being the butt of the joke.
