Pensacola Blue Wahoos Sign Professional Development License With The Miami Marlins

The Pensacola Blue Wahoos have signed a Professional Development License through Major League Baseball to serve as the Double-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins.

“Our organization is very excited to join the Professional Development License system as an affiliate of the Miami Marlins,” Blue Wahoos owner Quint Studer said. “Already, the Marlins have been excellent partners to our team, and we’re excited to begin forming what we hope to be long-term relationships on and off the field with Miami and their affiliates.”

The Blue Wahoos were officially invited to become an affiliate of the Marlins in December as part of the new Professional Development License system designed to modernize the player development system and provide affiliated teams access to Major League Baseball’s partnerships, tools, technology, and content to enhance fan experience.

Commissioner of Baseball Robert D. Manfred, Jr. said: “We are excited to unveil this new model, which not only provides a pipeline to the Majors, but continues the Minor Leagues’ tradition of entertaining millions of families in hundreds of communities. In modernizing our Minor League system, we prioritized the qualities that make the Minor Leagues such an integral part of our game while strengthening how we develop professional athletes on and off the field. We look forward to demonstrating the best of our game throughout local communities, supporting all those who are working hard to grow the sport, and sharing unrivaled technology and resources with minor league teams and players.”

The Marlins become the third affiliate for the Blue Wahoos franchise. The team was previously a member of the Cincinnati Reds organization (2012-2018) and the Minnesota Twins (2019-2020).

“We were excited to receive the invitation in December and to quickly sign and return our contract,” Studer said. “The Marlins are a first-class organization, and we are looking forward to bringing Blue Wahoos baseball back to the city of Pensacola in 2021 and welcoming baseball fans back to Blue Wahoos Stadium.”

In addition to the Blue Wahoos, the Marlins minor league system will also include the Jupiter Hammerheads at the Class-A level, the High-A Beloit Snappers, and the Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.