Court asked to limit MLB’s exemption

The Department of Justice on Wednesday formally asked a federal court to limit the scope of baseball’s antitrust exemption, the latest challenge to a century-old Supreme Court decision cherished by major league owners but increasingly criticized beyond the commissioner’s office.

In March, after the owners’ lockout ended, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced legislation to strip baseball of the exemption. A similar bill, introduced last year by Sen. Mike Lee (RUtah) and Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), also remains under consideration in Congress.

The Justice Department weighed in Wednesday on behalf of three former minor league teams suing Major League Baseball for violation of antitrust law. The three teams were among the 43 eliminated by MLB in its consolidation of the minor leagues.

MLB has asked that the suit be dismissed on three grounds, one of which is baseball’s antitrust exemption. In its filing Wednesday in U.S. District Court in New York, the Justice Department

did not speak to the other two grounds but asked the court to “define the exemption narrowly.”

MLB declined to comment.