Athletics owner ‘making it right’
Fisher reverses decision, says he will continue to pay organization’s minor league players
WASHINGTON — Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher caught heat last week when he said the club would not pay its minor league players for the rest of the season.
Now, he’s reversing course and said those players will in fact continue to receive their stipends of $400 per week.
“I changed my mind after spending a lot of time talking to our team,” Fisher told the San Francisco Chronicle on Friday. “I concluded I’d made a mistake.”
Fisher, son of the founders of the clothing retailer Gap, is worth an estimated US$2.2 billion, according to Forbes.
“I’ve listened to our fans and others, and there is no question that this is the right thing to do,” Fisher told the Chronicle. “We clearly got this decision wrong. These players represent our future and we will immediately begin paying our minor league players. I take responsibility and I’m making it right.”
Without games for the foreseeable future because of the coronavirus pandemic, Major League Baseball announced in March it would pay its minor league players $400 weekly through May 31. Minor league players at the rookie level receive $290 per week over a three-month season. Players in Triple-A earn $502 a week over five months.
Not paying Oakland’s minor league players for the rest of the season reportedly would have saved Fisher roughly $1.3 million. The decision came as the Athletics instituted significant furloughs and salary reductions through their baseball staff. The Chronicle reported that last Monday the A’s furloughed more than half of their employees through Oct. 31. Fisher said Friday the Athletics are creating an emergency assistance fund for furloughed employees.
Fisher’s about-face might have as much to do with strategy as kindness. The Chronicle reported that multiple executives and player agents believed last week’s decision to stop paying stipends would greatly hinder Oakland’s ability to sign minor league free agents after MLB’s five-round draft (down from the usual 40 rounds) concludes Thursday.
“I know that many of you will wonder why the A’s are cutting costs now,” Fisher wrote in an email to season-ticket holders last week. “Nobody knows how this pandemic will evolve over the long term. What is clear is that our revenue will be dramatically reduced this year. None of this diminishes the pain of today’s actions, but it is an honest acknowledgment of the circumstances of the moment.”
Friday’s announcement came as a big relief to those in the Athletics’ developmental system who are unable to play for another team and rely on those finances.
“That’s awesome news,” catcher JJ Schwarz, who played for Class-A Beloit and Class-A Stockton in 2019, told the Chronicle. “I have a lot of respect for John Fisher — to admit you’re wrong, you made a mistake, that’s not easy to do. I think the backlash was enough to make him realize that, and the fact that all 29 other teams were committed to paying their players.”
Pitcher Aiden McIntyre,
who appeared in 27 games for Class-A Beloit last year, had a similar reaction.
“Props to John Fisher for saying he made a mistake,” McIntyre said. “I’m definitely surprised, but I think he listened to the fans and players and media, and I’m grateful he did. That shows us that the organization is supporting us when they’re preaching about family.”
Before Friday, the Athletics were the only MLB team not paying its minor league players past May. Some teams vowed to pay theirs through the rest of the minor league season.
Dodgers pitcher David Price will reportedly give $1,000 to each of his club’s minor leaguers not on the 40-man roster in June as a way to ease the financial burden.
Washington Nationals ownership originally said it would pay its minor league players $300 per week through June. After their own major league players, led by relief pitcher Sean Doolittle, offered to cover the extra $100, public scrutiny came loud and fast, and the Lerner family relented, agreeing to pay the full $400. The Nationals also cut 40 minor league players at the end of last week and told those released that there will be no minor league season in 2020.
I have a lot of respect for John Fisher. To admit you made a mistake and you’re wrong, that’s not easy to do.”
Minor leaguer JJ Schwarz