On Friday, Major League Baseball announced they will be paying Minor League players up to the start of the MiLB season on April 8th. Until then, MLB will decide further as the COVID-19 situation continues to develop.
It’s been one week since the announcement was made that all spring training games were suspended and the regular season would be delayed by at least two weeks. That initial two week delay was optimistic to say the least because at this point, it seems like we would be lucky to have the regular season underway by June. Players, coaching staff members, staff at the ballparks and spring training facilities, the media, and more have all had to deal with the unknown of what’s happening next and figuring out where to go from here.
A lot of jobs are being lost or pushed back in this process as this has truly been a difficult time for all parties involved. Even though there is a lot of unknown about when the season will resume and when players will be able to get back together to prepare for 2020, MLB and each of the organizations are doing an admirable job of stepping up during this unexpected time off.
On Monday, Major League Baseball announced that MLB and MLBPA combined to donate $1M to Feeding America and Meals on Wheels America, a donation that would be split between the two. This is a situation that goes beyond baseball, obviously, and you have to give them credit for helping out individuals and families that are affected by the many closures throughout the country.
One day later, MLB announced that each club will donate $1M to help the thousands of ballpark employees that are losing work due to the delay.
This was a great move, as a lot of those employees rely on their baseball related work to make a living. However, despite these donations and the positive impact it will make for people, it appeared Minor League Baseball had been neglected throughout all of this.
Organizations began the process of designating players to Minor League camp prior to the suspension of the 2020 season. For the others, it was the start of their respective years.
The Minor League players were put in an extremely tough spot once the news broke. The last time they got paid was at the end of the 2019 season, which, in total, didn’t add up to much. The majority of these players have to work other jobs during the offseason to afford to live. And not to mention, the life of a minor leaguer during the regular season is extremely difficult. Between the living conditions and comparing the amount of money they make to the amount of hours they put in, it’s not fair to them.
Fast forward to the start of spring training, where the Minor League players were set to earn their money throughout camp, just like anyone would when they clock in at work. However, once spring training was suspended, plans were being figured out for those at Major League camp and the minor league players were left wondering what was going to happen to them and what they were going to do next.
On Thursday, MLB announced that Minor League players will earn compensation from now until April 8 which would’ve been the start of the minor league season.
A league-wide initiative has been announced for Minor League players to receive compensation between now and the scheduled start of the Minor League season. @MLB will continue to work with all 30 Clubs on the development of an industry-wide plan for compensation beyond 4/8. pic.twitter.com/Ck8Lv9uuzp
— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) March 19, 2020
While Major League Baseball should be applauded for this, it’s also something that was necessary. It’s a step in the right direction, but there’s still more work to do in regards to giving money to these players that need it.
In the statement above, MLB notes that they are considering what they will do after April 8, and let’s hope they continue to take a step in the right direction. All of this is good, but it’s just the beginning in what could potentially be months away from the game and months away from pay for these players.
As expected, a lot of players went home after MLB strongly encouraged them to. For the Minor League players that now have to find another job, it’s going to be difficult to tell an employer that you don’t know how long you will be on the job because you have to report back to your club when asked to. Hypothetically speaking, that could be weeks, even though more realistically it will probably be months before it gets to that point. In addition to that, it will be expected that these players remain in shape while they are away, even though the don’t have access to the facilities that they usually do at this time.
But what about filing for unemployment, wouldn’t that be an option for these players? Unfortunately, it’s not. Because they are under contract they would not be able to file for unemployment. Additionally, with COVID-19 causing a lot of people to lose work and businesses to shutdown, the job market isn’t exactly thriving right now. The Minor League players truly have their backs against the wall right now and it’s only right for them to continue to be helped during a time of need.
By the way, Emily Waldon of The Athletic MLB started a movement. Through her connections and platform on Twitter, Emily has helped raise nearly $10,000 for Minor League players. The effort started from the thread below.
Paying Minor Leaguers money they were expected to earn between now and April 8 is great, but there’s still a ways to go. Once April 9 comes around, I hope there is a solution for these kids and I hope there is a continuation down the path that we are currently on. Minor League players are important and they shouldn’t be an afterthought. They are people too, and they deserve to be treated as such during this difficult time.
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