Dodgers: MLB releases statement in response to Justin Turner disobeying protocols

Major League Baseball will be investigating Justin Turner.

Like we said, Major League Baseball is going to have some explaining to do after Tuesday night’s debacle involving Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Justin Turner, who was removed from Game 6 of the World Series due to a positive COVID-19 test but then came back out onto the field to celebrate the victory with his teammates.

Apparently, Turner was asked to remain in self-isolation, but he disregarded those orders and nobody decided to stop him. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred was there. He didn’t do anything. Dodgers team president Andrew Friedman was there. He didn’t do anything.

This went fully unchecked and it was horrible optics for the league, which had worked hard to keep its players healthy after months without a positive test. As a result, MLB released a statement on the matter and will be conducting an investigation, though we’re not sure what that will entail.

Not only was Turner not wearing a mask for an overwhelming amount of his time on the field with his teammates, he was pictured next to manager Dave Roberts, who is a cancer survivor, without a mask, and he kissed his partner on live television. That’s not to mention he was hugging his teammates and passing around the Commissioner’s Trophy like nothing had happened.

What’s arguably even worse is that Turner got support from Friedman and teammate Mookie Betts. Friedman essentially said it didn’t matter since everyone was already exposed to Turner throughout the first eight innings of the game, and Betts said, “He’s part of the team. Forget all that. He’s part of the team. We’re not excluding him from anything.”

Well, this is a bit of a different situation, we’d venture to say.

It’s a difficult situation all around. Winning a World Series is a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, but putting so many other people at risk because you want to celebrate the victory is as selfish as it gets. There could’ve been so many other ways to handle this in terms of distancing Turner from his teammates or the at-risk coaches/assistants.

Instead, it was as if nothing had happened. The Dodgers and MLB reportedly ignored an inconclusive test from Monday (which is supposed to be treated like a positive test, according to medical experts), and the franchise’s first World Series victory in 32 years is being overshadowed by more of the league’s incompetence.

Dodgers: MLB has a lot of explaining to do after Justin Turner positive COVID-19 test

Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner left Game 6 of the World Series due to a positive COVID test and sent a message to fans on Twitter.