Minimum salary raise in minors won’t top poverty line
An upcoming raise to minor league player salaries won’t push most players past the poverty line.
MLB will raise minimum salaries between 38% and 72%, depending on the minor league level, according to a memo sent to the 30 major league teams. Rookie and short-season-players, currently the lowest paid professionals in any organization in baseball, will see their weekly income boost from $290 to $400, while Class AAA minimums will creep up to $700.
However, the raise only impacts the five months out of the year minor leaguers are paid. They aren’t paid during spring training, either. Most minor leaguers paid at their respective league’s minimum annual salary won’t extend beyond $15,400, assuming a 22-week full season.
The U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services’ 2020 guidelines set the poverty line for single-person households at $12,760. Even with the raise, most minor leaguers will fall short.
Though top amateur recruits in the U.S. and abroad can receive signing bonuses in the millions, many sign for less than $10,000. Many will never earn more than that in a single year in their careers.
MLB teams are exempt from federal labor laws, allowing them to pay their players less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25. They also are ineligible for overtime, despite routinely working six or seven days a week during the season.
The wage increase was announced in the midst of a heated public battle between MLB and MiLB over the future of minor league baseball. The league’s proposal promised minor league facility upgrades and income in exchange for cutting 42 teams.
The pay increase won’t take effect until 2021.
Indians
Starter Mike Clevinger could be sidelined for two months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, an injury the right-hander sustained while working out at the team’s training complex earlier this week. “He was doing some drills a couple days ago,” manager Terry Francona said. “He felt something. We took him to the training room. He was pretty sore so they got him an MRI.” The Indians estimate Clevinger will be able to return in 6 to 8 weeks.
Brewers
Baseball’s arbitration model for relief pitchers is broken, closer Josh Hader said after losing his case against Milwaukee. Hader will earn $4.1 million rather than his $6.4 million request, a decision that dropped players to 1-6 in hearings this year. “I think the system’s just outdated on how we’re used. We’re mostly being used for lineups, not innings,” Hader said. While teams used to have set roles for pitchers in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, computer algorithms now determine which matchups in the batting order are best for which pitcher.
Mariners
Outfielder Mitch Haniger is not likely to take the field anytime soon following his second surgery in less than a month. The Mariners said the 2018 All-Star had a lower back procedure that followed core surgery in January. Both are related to a ruptured testicle sustained in a game last June.