AROUND THE HORN
Minor leagues:
The executive director of the nonprofit Advocates for Minor Leaguers has recommended that Congress enact legislation nullifying Major League Baseball’s antitrust exemption as it applies to minor league players. Harry Marino on Wednesday asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to pursue a “Minor League Curt Flood Act” in response to a letter from the four-member committee, chaired by Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat. The letter sent by the committee June 28 asked the advocacy group about the effect of baseball’s 100-year-old antitrust exemption on working conditions in the minor leagues. Applying antitrust law to the employment of minor league players could allow them to seek free agency sooner, strengthening their leverage to ask for better salaries and other working conditions. Marino’s letter to Congress was obtained Thursday by The AP. Advocates for Minor Leaguers has pushed in recent years to improve pay, housing and other employment standards for players who generally make between $4,800 and $15,400 annually. Those players are subject to Uniform Player Contracts when they enter professional baseball, preventing them from becoming minor league free agents for seven seasons. Marino argued that those UPCs keep players from seeking salaries beyond the MLB-mandated league minimums, ranging from $400 to $700 per week, paid only in season. The Curt Flood Act of 1998, which President Bill Clinton signed, applied antitrust laws to MLB affecting the employment of major league players. Marino argued that a Minor League Curt Flood Act would threaten the legality of the minor league UPCs. “Upon being drafted, players would be able to negotiate the length and terms of their initial minor league contracts with their major league teams,” Marino wrote. Because baseball’s amateur draft and international signing period are covered by collective bargaining with the major league players’ association, those structures would remain even with a Minor League Curt Flood Act.
Astros: Two-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander got his MLB-leading 11th win, Yordan Alvarez hit his 26th HR and the Astros beat the visiting Royals 5-2 to take the series 3-1. The 39-yearold Verlander (11-3) grinded through six innings, allowing seven hits and two runs — one earned — with eight strikeouts to lower his ERA to 2.00 in his return from Tommy John surgery. Astros manager Dusty Baker, 73, moved out of a tie with Walter Alston (2,040) into sole possession of ninth place on the all-time wins list with 2,041.
Orioles: Rookie Adley Rutschman hit his first HR at Camden Yards and the Orioles extended their winning streak to a seasonbest five games, beating the Angels 4-1. Jordan Lyles (5-7) pitched into the seventh, allowing one run and five hits with four strikeouts and two walks. Orioles starting pitchers have allowed one earned run or fewer 15 times in their last 20 games and carry a 2.46 ERA over that span.