Report: Marlins players won't be disciplined for breaking protocol

Major League Baseball has informed the players' association that it has no plans to discipline any Miami Marlins for breaking COVID-19 protocols, a source told Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic.

MLB's department of investigations is speaking with the Marlins as part of both the league's official investigation and contact tracing to determine how far the outbreak spread, according to Rosenthal and Drellich. The level of contact tracing the Marlins are going through is greater than what's been done with other teams.

The Marlins have been at the center of an outbreak that's affected several teams in MLB's east region, caused multiple schedules to be shuffled, and even put the rest of the season in doubt over the past week. Twenty members of the team reportedly tested positive for COVID-19, including 18 players.

MLB's investigation reportedly found the Marlins didn't follow health and safety protocols during a preseason road trip to Atlanta.

However, though Friday's report suggested some players left their hotel to visit bars or restaurants, Rosenthal and Drellich report the league has yet to find conclusive evidence of this. Additionally, MLB believes the outbreak began with their behavior inside the hotel and was hastened by a "super spreader" who was on board the team's flight from Atlanta to Philadelphia.

"The failure to use masks, the players gathering in the hotel without masks, whether it's in the hallway or people's rooms - if you really want to know what could have been done better by the club, that's really where it lies," a source told Rosenthal and Drellich.

The Marlins haven't played since last Sunday in Philadelphia but will resume their schedule this week in Baltimore. The Philadelphia Phillies - who had three positive tests after playing Miami last weekend - also lost a week's worth of games and will return to action against the New York Yankees on Monday.