{"id":19946,"date":"2022-07-20T07:19:44","date_gmt":"2022-07-20T07:19:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/mlb-commissioner-rob-manfred-addressed-the-issue-of-minor-league-pay\/"},"modified":"2022-07-20T07:19:44","modified_gmt":"2022-07-20T07:19:44","slug":"mlb-commissioner-rob-manfred-addressed-the-issue-of-minor-league-pay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/mlb-commissioner-rob-manfred-addressed-the-issue-of-minor-league-pay\/","title":{"rendered":"MLB commissioner Rob Manfred addressed the issue of minor league pay"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>LOS ANGELES \u2013 In May, Major League Baseball agreed to settle an 8-year-old dispute brought by current and former minor leaguers alleging the violation of various wage laws.  Four days ago, it was revealed that the settlement totaled $185 million and included a stipulation that, going forward, teams will <em>note<\/em> be expressly forbidden \u2014 as they had been previously \u2014 from paying their minor leaguers outside the regular season.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee exploring the continued utility of MLB&#8217;s unique antitrust exemption sent a letter to commissioner Rob Manfred asking him a series of probing questions about how it affects minor league baseball in particular.  The letter, which comes after a similar inquiry was sent to a minor league advocacy group last month, indicates at least some interest in pursuing legislation to remove or limit the scope of that exemption.  The league has a week to respond.<\/p>\n<p>In response to the settlement, the league issued a statement explaining, among other things, that, \u201cWe are only in the second year of a major overhaul of the 100-year-old player development system and have made great strides to improve the quality of life for minor-league players.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And in response to the letter from the Senate Judiciary Committee, the league issued a statement saying, among other things, that, \u201cWe look forward to providing detailed information to the committee regarding baseball&#8217;s limited antitrust exemption.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>All of this represents a crescendo of frustration and desperation from minor leaguers who have long been paid reprehensibly low wages that MLB lobbied to legalize with the 2018 legislation, cravenly entitled Save America&#8217;s Pastime Act, that exempted minor leaguers from minimum wage and maximum hours requirements.  Advocacy groups and articles about living conditions have shone a spotlight on the situation and brought criticism down on the league.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div class=\"caas-figure-with-pb\" style=\"max-height: 640px\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container caas-img-loader\" style=\"padding-bottom:67%;\"><noscript><img alt=\"MLB commissioner Rob Manfred speaks during the 2022 MLB baseball draft, Sunday, July 17, 2022, in Los Angeles.  (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/8r_YOoAKf9nbRHySA_UuPw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MA--\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-07\/33cfa4e0-07b3-11ed-9d7e-0ffe602dcbd4\" class=\"caas-img\"\/><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\">MLB commissioner Rob Manfred speaks during the 2022 MLB baseball draft, Sunday, July 17, 2022, in Los Angeles.  (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Ahead of 2021, minor league salaries were increased, but the number of jobs was slashed as the league eliminated more than 40 teams&#8217; affiliations.  And this year, MLB introduced a housing policy to eliminate a major source of stress and expense for players, but the rollout has been uneven and the reception mixed.<\/p>\n<p><button class=\"link caas-button collapse-button\" aria-label=\"\" title=\"\" data-ylk=\"elm:readmore;slk:Story continues\">Story continues<\/button><\/p>\n<p>Even with these improvements, players are paid only in season and those without any major league experience make between $4,800 and $14,700 annually.<\/p>\n<p>And yet, asked whether the issue is that the owners can&#8217;t afford to pay the minor leaguers a living wage, Manfred said Tuesday that he \u201ckind of reject[s] the premise of the question that minor league players are not paid a living wage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He explained, \u201cI think that we&#8217;ve made real strides in the last few years in terms of what minor league players are paid \u2014 even putting to one side the signing bonuses that many of them have already received.  They receive housing, which obviously is another form of compensation.  I just reject the premise of the question.  I don&#8217;t know what else to say about that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Granted, a \u201cliving wage\u201d is more subjective than the federal poverty line, which MLB clears only at the higher end of minor salaries.  A recent study proposed $35,000 for minor leaguers to \u201cput them in line with a living wage.\u201d  An MIT calculator that takes into account local cost of living puts the cutoff for a single adult without children at $18.08 per hour in Maricopa County, Arizona \u2014 where many teams&#8217; complexes are located.  Elsewhere in the country, that number is slightly lower or higher.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, for minor leaguers, the issue is less about where their salaries fall in relation to what is considered the bare minimum and more about their pressing financial struggles and an inability to negotiate for a larger portion of the multibillion dollar industry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have very little doubt that Major League Baseball will give more carrots to minor league players to avoid structural change,\u201d Harry Marino, the executive director of Advocates for Minor Leaguers, said shortly before Manfred addressed the media.  \u201cFree housing is great, except, guess what, if Major League Baseball wanted to take away free housing next year, they could.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hours before MLB hosts the All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium, he considered whether the league is worried about the status of the antitrust exemption that makes such unilaterality possible and benevolence necessary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the league is very nervous,\u201d Marino said.  \u201cAnd I think with good reason.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LOS ANGELES \u2013 In May, Major League Baseball agreed to settle an 8-year-old dispute brought by current and former minor leaguers alleging the violation of various wage laws. Four days ago, it was revealed that the settlement totaled $185 million and included a stipulation that, going forward, teams will note be expressly forbidden \u2014 as &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/mlb-commissioner-rob-manfred-addressed-the-issue-of-minor-league-pay\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">MLB commissioner Rob Manfred addressed the issue of minor league pay<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19533,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/rob-manfred-adamant-mlb-has-made-real-strides-in-the-past-few-years-in-paying-minor-leaguers\/","url_meta":{"origin":19946,"position":0},"title":"Rob Manfred adamant MLB has &#8216;made real strides in the past few years&#8217; in paying minor leaguers","date":"July 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"4:49 PM ETJeff PassanESPN CloseESPN MLB insiderAuthor 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 he \"reject[s] the premise\" that minor league players are not paid a living wage, prompting a barrage of criticism\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20613,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/rob-manfred-claims-minor-leaguers-make-a-living-wage\/","url_meta":{"origin":19946,"position":1},"title":"Rob Manfred claims minor leaguers make a living wage","date":"July 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Rob Manfredphoto: Getty ImagesMLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, a man who makes $17.5 million a year, told minor leaguers to shut up and be grateful this week amidst calls for a living wage for professional players who haven't yet been called up.Okay, he didn't phrase it like that, but he did\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17159,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/mlb-will-pay-minor-leaguer-players-185-million-to-settle-law-suit\/","url_meta":{"origin":19946,"position":2},"title":"MLB will pay minor leaguer players $185 million to settle law suit","date":"July 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"A law suit filed against major league baseball by minor league players that has been pending in the federal court system since 2014 has been settled for $185 million, according to Jeff Passan at ESPN. Minor league players claimed that MLB violated federal and state minimum wage laws by paying\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15770,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/mlb-to-pay-185mm-to-settle-class-action-minor-league-suit\/","url_meta":{"origin":19946,"position":3},"title":"MLB To Pay $185MM To Settle Class Action Minor League Suit","date":"July 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Major League Baseball is set to pay $185MM to settle the class action brought a lawsuit brought by minor league players nearly decade ago, as Jeff Passan of ESPN was first to report. Evan Drellich of the Athletic adds (twitter link) that the league will lift any \u201ccontractual prohibitions against\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/7l9BaFhuULnf_4l97MuRbg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyMDA7aD04MDA-\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-07\/33cfa4e0-07b3-11ed-9d7e-0ffe602dcbd4","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19946"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19946\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}