MLB extends support to minor leaguers through May
NEW YORK » Major League Baseball is extending its financial support to minor league players through May while suspending their contracts because of the new coronavirus pandemic.
MLB announced March 19 that it was giving minor leaguers $400 weekly allowances through April 8, the day before the minor league season was scheduled to start. The commissioner’s office said Tuesday minor leaguers will continue to receive those allowances and health benefits through May 31 or the minor league opening day, whichever comes first.
Minor league contracts have a provision allowing them to be suspended “during any national emergency.” MLB said Tuesday it had told the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, the minor league governing body, that it was unable to supply players to minor league affiliates because of the emergency.
Major and minor league seasons are on hold due to the new coronavirus. Weekly minimum salaries on full-season minor league teams range from $290 at Class A to $502 at Triple-A over the five-month season, meaning many players are making more during this hiatus than they do in-season.
Andrews temporarily halts Tommy John surgeries
GULF BREEZE, FLA. » Prominent orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews has temporarily halted Tommy John operations at his Florida
medical center in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The announcement came from his institute in Gulf Breeze. Some have questioned whether a reconstructive elbow surgery for a ballplayer is an essential procedure at this time.
“We are not performing any non-urgent or non-emergent procedures, including Tommy John surgery, in compliance with the governor’s executive order. We are adhering to these restrictions and all such cases are suspended at this time,” a statement from an Andrews Institute spokesperson said.
A’s minor league manager on ventilator due to coronavirus
OAKLAND » Oakland Athletics minor league manager Webster Garrison is hospitalized in Louisiana and on a ventilator with the coronavirus, according to his fiance.
Nikki Trudeaux posted her latest update Monday night on social media. She said the 54-year-old former major leaguer still required a ventilator to fight COVID-19 but hadn’t declined in his battle.
“He is not getting worse! He is fighting hard and making small milestones,” she wrote on Twitter. Trudeaux has been asking for nightly prayers with the hash tag “WebbyStrong.”
The A’s said Tuesday there were no updates on a minor league staffer — they have not identified him — and said there have not been other positive tests within the organization.