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- The owner of Marlins Triple-A affiliate, the Wichita Wind Surge, Lou Schwechheimer passed away Wednesday due to complications from COVID-19. He was 62, and after spending the majority of his life involved with minor-league baseball, will be greatly missed by those in baseball circles.
Lou was a true visionary and innovative baseball executive. Above all, though, he was a true fan of the game.
— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) July 29, 2020
His inspiration and leadership will be missed by the entire baseball community. https://t.co/UKJOnMeH2A
- In Philadelphia, quarantined Marlins players continued to deal with the outbreak. Harold Ramirez said he was experiencing mild symptoms. He was unfortunately not alone, although no one is thought to be seriously ill.
- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will not prohibit the Marlins from playing in Miami next week. There had been some doubt after Miami-Dade mayor Carlos Gimenez had stated an earlier preference for the team to quarantine for two weeks upon returning home, but he will ultimately defer to the governor.
- Meanwhile, the club has been scrambling to fill out the roster with major-league ready players. Logan Forsythe became the latest free agent to join the team, and Lewis Brinson, Matt Joyce, Jordan Yamamoto and Eddy Alvarez are seen as likely options to make the jump from within the 60-man player pool.
- Most top prospects in the system, such as Sixto Sanchez, Max Meyer, and Jazz Chisholm, are unlikely to be called up due to complications with the 40-man roster.
While Marlins plan to bring up a few of their skilled prospects, they haven't privately conveyed plans to bring up some blue chip ones. MLB's 40-man COVID rules complicate that, make it tough for them to promote Max Meyer, Bleday as an example: https://t.co/b6V70xf2It
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) July 29, 2020
- The league is currently performing contact tracing to determine if it will pay Marlins players for any canceled games. It has also issued a new round of precautions for travelling teams. Most notably, they will be joined by a “compliance officer” who will ensure that they follow the league’s social-distancing protocols.