Our Noticias, 5/1/20: New ticket policy; new podcast; new int’l prospects list

Get your money back (or don’t!)

The Marlins announced their Impacted Ticket Policy Thursday, giving those who purchased tickets for any March/April/May home games the choice between requesting refunds or applying their account credit to a future game. Those who do the latter get the perk of 10% bonus credit.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis has been a vocal proponent of allowing fans to attend live sporting events again by midsummer (with reasonable safety precautions in place). However, even an absolute best-case scenario would restrict Marlins Park’s seating capacity, plus there are people who will still feel uncomfortable at public gatherings until a COVID-19 vaccine is widely available.

The point being, the team should be preparing for how to reimburse their June-September ticket holders, too.

New Fish Bites

Rejoice: our podcast is back. The tone surrounding the possibility of a 2020 MLB season shifted earlier this week with reports from USA Today, The Athletic and ESPN about the league’s determination to play meaningful games while balancing logistical and safety concerns.

Alex Contreras and I discuss how the Marlins and their players would be affected. We also recap the various ways that the team has assisted the South Florida community with food and PPE shortages.

MLB Draft parameters still under negotiation

Thursday night, Ken Rosenthal reported that the MLB Players Association has rejected a proposed 10-round draft on the grounds that it would have limited the potential earnings of late-round and undrafted prospects (subscription required).

The players would prefer that the draft go as many rounds as possible, giving entry to more players into the sport—and also rewarding more young players with bonus money. Some teams may share the union’s interest: Drafted players represent an investment that can appreciate many times over for pennies on the dollar.

The league’s leverage in these negotiations is the threat of reducing the number of rounds in the draft. The league’s message moving forward may be: Take 10 rounds, with restrictions, or else the draft will be shorter. Teams can cite their stymied cash flow amidst the COVID-19 pandemic as a reason to draft fewer rounds this year.

Both sides are expected to reach a compromise soon in order for the draft to be held in June as originally scheduled.

Walk-off links

• The Home Plate Meals Relief Fund is coordinating eight upcoming drive-thru food distributions on the east side of Marlins Park at the Humana Lot (1390 NW 6th St, Miami). Every Tuesday and Wednesday in May, the queue will open at 12:30 p.m. and they will begin serving at 1 p.m.
• Approximately one-third of the Marlins’ business operations employees are being furloughed, the Miami Herald reports.
• Future Marlins shortstop Yiddi Cappe ranks No. 9 on MLB.com’s international top prospects list. He will officially sign on Jul. 2 (or whenever the 2020-21 international signing period eventually begins).
• MLB Pipeline selects José Devers as the best pure hitting prospect in Miami’s farm system. Despite Devers’ good results in 2019, I would have sided with outfielder Jesús Sánchez instead.
• Las Vegas-based talk show The Sports Circus had Marlins pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. on as their guest for a full hour on Wednesday. The first and final segments focused on baseball; the middle segments covered Stottlemyre’s fishing business.

• Here are the next month’s worth of Marlins game broadcasts being replayed on FOX Sports Florida.