GOOD PRICE
Dodger pitcher will give every minor leaguer in L.A. system $1,000 for month of June
David Price came through in the clutch for hundreds of his teammates, all without throwing a single pitch.
The veteran lefthander will reportedly give every minor leaguer on his new team that isn’t on the Dodgers 40-man roster $1,000 for the month of June, according to ESPN. Price joined Mookie Betts in a blockbuster salary dump between the Dodgers and their former Red Sox. Roughly 200 of Price’s colleagues will benefit from his donation.
Price’s show of kindness isn’t the first of its kind from a big leaguer. Rangers outfielder and DH Shin-Soo Choo paid each Texas minor leaguer $1,000 back in April.
Price is one of the highest player earners in the game thanks to his seven-year, $215 million dollar contract he signed in 2015. Even still, the total dollar amount of his then-record deal is still less than 12% of the average MLB team value, which was $1.85 billion according to Forbes’ latest estimates. Yet, the 2012 Cy Young-winner’s generosity towards his colleagues may exceed multiple team owners looking to cut costs by cutting off their players.
As the minor league season appears increasingly unlikely to be played due to the ongoing pandemic, the Athletics recently told their minor leaguers they would cease their $400 a week stipends to farmhands.
Oakland’s infamously thrifty team isn’t the only team trying to stretch their 2019 dollars through a 2020 season that may not have fans if it’s played.
Other teams like the Mariners and Mets released dozens of minor leaguers — prompting former Mets secondrounder Andrew Church to lash out at the organization that discarded him. Some franchises such as the Royals and Marlins, committed to keeping all of their minor leaguers paid through August 31.