Per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, Pirates scout Jessie Nava came down with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Venezuela. He is currently hospitalized and there is a GoFundMe to raise money for his treatment with a $5,000 goal. As of this writing, the goal is a little over halfway towards being met, at $2,710.
We’re going to be seeing more and more of this as the months go on and the MLB season progresses. Inevitably, people working within baseball, however tangentially, will be afflicted by the virus. For many of them, they will also need GoFundMe or similar drives -- or the benevolence of their employers -- to pay for medical treatment.
Hopefully, in Nava’s case, the Pirates get involved directly and help cover his medical costs. Pirates owner Bob Nutting (pictured) and his family have a net worth of $1.1 billion, per CNBC. According to Forbes, the Pirates are valued at $1.26 billion. (Update: The Pirates have made a “sizable” contribution towards Nava’s medical expenses, per Rosenthal.)
Nava, 32, pitched in the Mariners’ minor league system from 2006-11, making it as high up as Single-A Clinton in ’11.
