Jeff PassanESPN Shut up ESPN MLB insider Author of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports”
LOS ANGELES — Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday that he “rejects[s] the case” that minor league players are not paid a living wage, prompting a barrage of criticism a day after a Senate Judiciary Committee letter asking about the league’s treatment of minor leaguers. Shut up
ESPN MLB insider Author of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports”
When asked if owners can’t afford to pay more major leaguers or just choose not to, Manfred said, “I kind of reject the premise of the question that minor leaguers don’t get paid the per diem. We’ve really made strides in recent years in terms of what minor league players are paid, even putting in the signing bonuses that many of them have already received. They get housing, which is obviously another form of compensation. I’m just dismissing the premise of the question. I don’t know what more to say about it.” In a follow-up, Manfred repeated: “I reject the assumption that they are not paid a salary.” While minor league salaries have risen in recent seasons and teams this year for the first time are mandated to provide housing, the majority of minor league player salaries are below the poverty line. Players not on the 40-man roster or with major league experience receive between $4,800 and $14,700 annually and are only paid in-season, leaving many to supplement their offseason income while trying to prepare for next year. 2 Related “Most minor league baseball players work second jobs because their annual salaries are not enough to make ends meet,” said Harry Marino, the executive director of Advocates for Minor Leaguers. “The commissioner makes an annual salary of $17.5 million. His suggestion that minor league pay is acceptable is both cruel and false.” Earlier this week, MLB settled for $185 million a class-action lawsuit by minor leaguers alleging minimum wage and overtime violations by teams. The settlement, which covers more than 20,000 players, will distribute more than $120 million across the league and asks MLB to allow teams to pay minor league players during spring training, extended spring training and instructional leagues. The Justice leadership’s letter to Manfred on Monday questioned the need for the league’s antitrust exemption, particularly as it relates to the minor leagues. He further addressed corruption in Latin America, a related issue with a July 25 deadline for MLB and the MLB Players Association to agree on a framework for an international draft.
