Angels vow action

Team says it will address complaints of organization’s minor leaguers.

MINNESOTA 5 ANGELS 4

MINNEAPOLIS — In his role as executive director of Advocates for Minor Leaguers, Harry Marino has learned to rate the way players are treated within each of Major League Baseball’s 30 organizations on a grim spectrum.

“Really bad to truly terrible,” he said.

When it came to the Angels, who had several distressed minor-league players reach out to the organization, the stories Marino and his colleagues heard put the club at the worst end of that scale.

“[They] were deeply disturbing to us, as I’m sure they were to anyone who read them,” Marino said in a phone call Friday, adding, “It’s really disturbing in terms of what it reveals about how the Angels feel about their minor-league players.”

Marino’s organization released on Thursday a collection of anonymous quotes from Angels minor leaguers describing the dire living conditions many faced this year, including stories of players sleeping in their cars, on makeshift beds in team clubhouses, or in overcrowded houses and hotels that they struggle to afford.

On Friday, two Angels prospects — Kieran Lovegrove of double-A Rock City and Shane Kelso, who retired after playing part of the season in Class A because of the financial burden he said he faced — spoke to ESPN about their situations and criticized the club.

“By no means is this an Angels-only problem,” Marino said. “But yeah, this is pretty extreme.”

Prior to the Angels’ 5-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Friday night — in which starter Alex Cobb exited with a blister and the Angels blew an early 4-0 lead — general manager Perry Minasian released a statement vowing to address the issues.

“What is being reported is unacceptable, and we will look into it and address it,” Minasian said.

Marino said public recognition of the problem is only the first step, calling on the Angels and other clubs to enact immediate changes to help their minor-league players, from taking care of housing to implementing improved year-round pay.

“These are not outlandish requests,” Marino said. “Minor-league baseball players are not asking to be treated glamorously. They’re asking to receive the bare minimum, really; to be treated with a modicum of dignity and respect.”

Advocates for Minor Leaguers was formed last year by current and former players — Marino played in the Baltimore Orioles’ and Arizona Diamondbacks’ systems — concerned about the treatment of minor leaguers, who do not have a union. Marino said the organization has found that most minor leaguers make less than $15,000 per year and get paid only seasonally, usually going unpaid during spring training and extended spring training.

It also is up to most players to find housing during the season.

In the past, host families in minor league communities helped. But with that option not available for most players because of the pandemic, they’ve had to scramble for other arrangements.

“Major league teams would rather have their players have housing insecurity — have no place to sleep, sleep in the clubhouse, sleep in their cars, pay more than they’re making per two weeks on a hotel or apartment — than take on that responsibility themselves,” Marino said.

“The absence of host families has revealed how these teams prioritize their own players and care about their own players. It’s really disturbing.”