MLB unilaterally raising minor league minimum pay levels

stepson_and_toe

New Member
Aug 11, 2019
386
Surprised that no one has started a thread about the announcement from MLB that beginning in 2021 the minimum pay levels for minor leagues will be raised from between 38% to 72%, depending on the level.

Currently, the minimum weekly pay for players in Rookie, Short Season A, Single A, and High A make a minimum of $290 per week. Rookie and Short Season players will receive 38% raises to $400 per week while Single A and High A players will go up 72% to $500 per week.

The minimum for Double A players goes from $350 per week to $600 (71%) and the Triple A minimum goes from $502 per week to $700 (39%).

The article in the Globe by Michael Silverman also notes that, "In August, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a favorable ruling for a class-action lawsuit filed by former minor leaguers over insufficient pay." I do not recall hearing about this ruling but it, along with the congressional reaction to reducing the number of minor league teams may be factors in this unilateral salary raise. (since this announcement came from MLB, I started the thread here instead of the MiLB forum)
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 26, 2005
30,494
Surprised that no one has started a thread about the announcement from MLB that beginning in 2021 the minimum pay levels for minor leagues will be raised from between 38% to 72%, depending on the level.

Currently, the minimum weekly pay for players in Rookie, Short Season A, Single A, and High A make a minimum of $290 per week. Rookie and Short Season players will receive 38% raises to $400 per week while Single A and High A players will go up 72% to $500 per week.

The minimum for Double A players goes from $350 per week to $600 (71%) and the Triple A minimum goes from $502 per week to $700 (39%).

The article in the Globe by Michael Silverman also notes that, "In August, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a favorable ruling for a class-action lawsuit filed by former minor leaguers over insufficient pay." I do not recall hearing about this ruling but it, along with the congressional reaction to reducing the number of minor league teams may be factors in this unilateral salary raise. (since this announcement came from MLB, I started the thread here instead of the MiLB forum)
We discussed the lawsuit when MLB announced it was cutting back on the number of minor league teams: https://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?threads/m-l-b-said-to-be-pushing-for-major-overhaul-of-minor-leagues-eliminate-up-to-40-teams.28605/page-2#post-3657166.

A lot of this is because there's no way a lot of minor leagers are getting paid minimum wage.
 

Plympton91

bubble burster
SoSH Member
Oct 19, 2008
12,408
$400 a week is $10 an hour.

Gerrit Cole will be paid approximately $10,000 per pitch.
 

santadevil

wears depends
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Aug 1, 2006
6,472
Saskatchestan
I'm not sure if this is the right thread, but good piece on ESPN about Minor Leaguer's and some of the issues they face
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/32172108/can-union-fix-minor-leaguers-say-poverty-level-pay-poor-housing-driving-mental-health-crisis

One thing mentioned in the article is providing housing for the players, which it looks like Houston did last year

But I was thinking, why don't these teams just buy an apartment building for these guys to live in and provide them housing?
I know why they don't (they don't have to). But jeepers, seems like such an easy solution and then you know where the guys are when they are at home
 

LogansDad

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Nov 15, 2006
29,054
Alamogordo
I agree, and really, it's a drop in the bucket for these teams, and they could probably lawyer it in as a tax write off, so it makes no sense to me that they don't do it already.

It also seems like it would be a great move from a player development standpoint, as well. It is so much easier to wake up and put in full effort at work when you know you are going to be okay when you go home, even if your job is to play a game. I really don't understand how it has taken this long for the ball to start moving like this, unless it is purely owners fearing a slippery slope of giving in on one concession leading to a lot more (Narrator: That's likely what it is).
 

shaggydog2000

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SoSH Member
Apr 5, 2007
11,482
I agree, and really, it's a drop in the bucket for these teams, and they could probably lawyer it in as a tax write off, so it makes no sense to me that they don't do it already.

It also seems like it would be a great move from a player development standpoint, as well. It is so much easier to wake up and put in full effort at work when you know you are going to be okay when you go home, even if your job is to play a game. I really don't understand how it has taken this long for the ball to start moving like this, unless it is purely owners fearing a slippery slope of giving in on one concession leading to a lot more (Narrator: That's likely what it is).
Because traditionally they didn't (and don't) own the minor league franchises, so why would they invest in or around them? They were only supplying the players. I still think they won't buy apartment buildings if they don't own a franchise because affiliates can move around for various reasons, but they are being shamed enough to look into cleaning up the housing mess the payers are in. And ultimately I think they will go to a model where they own the minor league franchises and invest in dorms, gyms, and cafeterias for them, but I don't think those franchises would be in the same places they are now. Maybe they have AAA and AA spread out like they are now, but everything else in the complexes the way the rookie level leagues are now.