Mets to pay minor leaguers through August
The Mets are committed to paying their minor-league players through the end of August, a source confirmed to the Daily News.
The Mets join a handful of other teams — including the Twins, Royals, Red Sox, Marlins, Padres and Mariners — to announce they will pay minor leaguers not currently on the 40-man roster their current weekly $400 stipend this summer.
Major League Baseball had committed to paying minor-league players through the end of May, and the league left it up to individual clubs to extend salaries beyond the end of that month.
The Oakland A’s last month announced they would stop paying their minor leaguers their $400 weekly stipend beyond May 31. Following enormous public backlash, A’s owner John Fisher reversed course and agreed to pay his players through the end of the scheduled minor-league season.
“I’ve listened to our fans and others, and there is no question that this is the right thing to do,” Fisher told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco 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.”
The fallout from the coronavirus and the anticipated cancellation of the 2020 minor-league season caused teams last month to release hundreds of players from their farm systems. The minor leagues have been devastated, with reports indicating that at the end of this year upward of 1,000 players could see their baseball careers end.
The Mets last month released players from their organization and implemented pay cuts for employees.
The average minor leaguer is paid based on the level of competition in a club’s farm system. In 2020, before the coronavirus suspended major professional sports leagues, Class A minor-league players were scheduled to make $290/week, Class AA $350/week and Class AAA $502/ week. That comes out to roughly $4,800 for three-month short-season leagues to around $14,000 for five months at Class AAA.