Minor Leaguers as the Working Poor

[NJ BIRD FAN]

At least in the short term (say 1950-today) it has led to a rather dramatic increase in the quality of play.

There is no way to quantify that statement. The quality of play most likely would have increased at the same level. Unless of course you believe that players from other countries are better athletes then in the US. The investment by MLB teams in other countries started as a way to develop cheaper talent. Mil salaries are fine for a poor kid from the DR. Your average US kid that is marginal will go to school.

Long term, I believe that a league filled with players that do not speak English and cannot be interviewed properly will lead to ( which has already begun) a lack of connection to the average US fan.

[Plutarch]

And I'm a firm believe that a job is a contract between two people without outside influence. If I agree to wash your car for a $1, and you agree to pay me that...what is the problem? If a team says they will pay me $5000 to play second base for 6 months, and I say I want to play second base for 6 months for $5000, then why should that be illegal?

For the most part I agree but with baseball we are not talking about a free market where buyers and sellers are free to negotiate services and payments based upon value/worth. For the baseball player, who does have an unique set of skills there is no open market in which to sell your services. There is really only one buyer (MLB and it's affiliates (agreements might be made for independent teams but the avenue to the end goal is the same) which is being protected by a govt granted monopoly. These players, as a group, are not being paid their worth because the market provides no incentive for the organizations to do so.

[Tony-OH]

Anyone ever heard of a young minor league player complaining over this? The system is set up for attrition where the ones that realize they are not going to make leave and go get better paying jobs in order for the next player to come in and give it there try.

No one is forced to play a game for a living. These players choose this lifestyle and the pay or lack thereof that comes with it while in the minors. I've talked with 100s of minor leaguers and not one complained of the lifestyle. They were living out a dream but yes, at some point they have to decide whether they need better paying jobs to support their lifestyle or families.

This allows for more open jobs for the next group of young men to live that dream. If the salaries were making them live a terrible lifestyle then less people would want those jobs. Last time I checked, there is no shortage of young men willing to work for these wages while chasing a dream.

The minors exist for no other reason then to produce major league baseball players. No one plays minor league baseball for the money.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Anyone ever heard of a young minor league player complaining over this? The system is set up for attrition where the ones that realize they are not going to make leave and go get better paying jobs in order for the next player to come in and give it there try.

No one is forced to play a game for a living. These players choose this lifestyle and the pay or lack thereof that comes with it while in the minors. I've talked with 100s of minor leaguers and not one complained of the lifestyle. They were living out a dream but yes, at some point they have to decide whether they need better paying jobs to support their lifestyle or families.

This allows for more open jobs for the next group of young men to live that dream. If the salaries were making them live a terrible lifestyle then less people would want those jobs. Last time I checked, there is no shortage of young men willing to work for these wages while chasing a dream.

The minors exist for no other reason then to produce major league baseball players. No one plays minor league baseball for the money.

Agreed and unlike the problems of the true working poor, most of these guys have the educational background, capability/access and means to move up the economic ladder when they so choose.

[Tony-OH]

For the most part I agree but with baseball we are not talking about a free market where buyers and sellers are free to negotiate services and payments based upon value/worth. For the baseball player, who does have an unique set of skills there is no open market in which to sell your services. There is really only one buyer (MLB and it's affiliates (agreements might be made for independent teams but the avenue to the end goal is the same) which is being protected by a govt granted monopoly. These players, as a group, are not being paid their worth because the market provides no incentive for the organizations to do so.

Sure there are. They can sell their services to an independent league and they can make $800 month with no per diem and with very little chance of ever playing in the major leagues. They can try and get a job with a foreign league. If they want to play for an affiliate where health care, professional instruction, and food is free, then the going rate is clearly defined. They can choose the path that's best for them.

Do you want a system where the Yankees would be able to buy up all the best minor leaguers because they can pay them more than the Orioles? How would that work for competitve balance?

[Can_of_corn]

Anyone ever heard of a young minor league player complaining over this? The system is set up for attrition where the ones that realize they are not going to make leave and go get better paying jobs in order for the next player to come in and give it there try.

No one is forced to play a game for a living. These players choose this lifestyle and the pay or lack thereof that comes with it while in the minors. I've talked with 100s of minor leaguers and not one complained of the lifestyle. They were living out a dream but yes, at some point they have to decide whether they need better paying jobs to support their lifestyle or families.

This allows for more open jobs for the next group of young men to live that dream. If the salaries were making them live a terrible lifestyle then less people would want those jobs. Last time I checked, there is no shortage of young men willing to work for these wages while chasing a dream.

The minors exist for no other reason then to produce major league baseball players. No one plays minor league baseball for the money.

I completely agree with everything except the bolded. I think minor league baseball provides a very real product for the fans and the communities in and of itself. As well as providing job experience for coaches, managers and umps.

[CA-ORIOLE]

I completely agree with everything except the bolded. I think minor league baseball provides a very real product for the fans and the communities in and of itself. As well as providing job experience for coaches, managers and umps.

Yes. This.

[srock]

And I'm a firm believe that a job is a contract between two people without outside influence. If I agree to wash your car for a $1, and you agree to pay me that...what is the problem? If a team says they will pay me $5000 to play second base for 6 months, and I say I want to play second base for 6 months for $5000, then why should that be illegal?

When is there no outside influence? Maybe if I hire the neighbors kid to mow the lawn, but things are rarely so simple.

[NJ BIRD FAN]

Anyone ever heard of a young minor league player complaining over this? The system is set up for attrition where the ones that realize they are not going to make leave and go get better paying jobs in order for the next player to come in and give it there try.

No one is forced to play a game for a living. These players choose this lifestyle and the pay or lack thereof that comes with it while in the minors. I've talked with 100s of minor leaguers and not one complained of the lifestyle. They were living out a dream but yes, at some point they have to decide whether they need better paying jobs to support their lifestyle or families.

This allows for more open jobs for the next group of young men to live that dream. If the salaries were making them live a terrible lifestyle then less people would want those jobs. Last time I checked, there is no shortage of young men willing to work for these wages while chasing a dream.

The minors exist for no other reason then to produce major league baseball players. No one plays minor league baseball for the money.

The last line is simply not true. If you look at every teams low minors, they are filled with players from the DR. These are poor kids that have no hope of a job paying them anywhere near a mil salary in their home country.

[Tony-OH]

I completely agree with everything except the bolded. I think minor league baseball provides a very real product for the fans and the communities in and of itself. As well as providing job experience for coaches, managers and umps.

I meant in major league baseball's eyes. I agree that the minors provide much more including providing a cheaper baseball experience for young fans and families.

[Tony-OH]

The last line is simply not true. If you look at every teams low minors, they are filled with players from the DR. These are poor kids that have no hope of a job paying them anywhere near a mil salary in their home country.

Ok, but guess what, the DR players are making much more even in the low minors then they would be paid back home for an unskilled job. Most send money back. I doubt you will ever meet a DR player complaining about the money he's making as a minor league player in the US.

[hoosiers]

Anyone ever heard of a young minor league player complaining over this? The system is set up for attrition where the ones that realize they are not going to make leave and go get better paying jobs in order for the next player to come in and give it there try.

No one is forced to play a game for a living. These players choose this lifestyle and the pay or lack thereof that comes with it while in the minors. I've talked with 100s of minor leaguers and not one complained of the lifestyle. They were living out a dream but yes, at some point they have to decide whether they need better paying jobs to support their lifestyle or families.

This allows for more open jobs for the next group of young men to live that dream. If the salaries were making them live a terrible lifestyle then less people would want those jobs. Last time I checked, there is no shortage of young men willing to work for these wages while chasing a dream.

The minors exist for no other reason then to produce major league baseball players. No one plays minor league baseball for the money.

Similarly, if there weren't labor laws, I bet many business owners would have no shortage of people willing to work for $4 and $5 per hour.

But there are such laws to protect those workers and that allow them to form unions to strike for fair compensation. Those laws exist for a reason, no? I will note that third tier Broadway actors/stage hands (also entertainers) are able to benefit from these laws, earn low wages, and form unions, etc. Not sure why playing baseball is so different that it should be okay to exempt minor leaguers from these basics.

If you don't consider these ballplayers to hold real jobs that should have benefits of the most basic labor laws in this country, fine. Hey, I am a very pro business guy, but IMO the "we'll find the next guy who will play baseball cheap in the summer because there are no shortage of these guys and besides no one is complaining" is not a sufficient excuse to not pay these ballplayers appropriately.

[Tony-OH]

Similarly, if there weren't labor laws, I bet many business owners would have no shortage of people willing to work for $4 and $5 per hour.

But there are such laws to protect those workers and that allow them to form unions to strike for fair compensation. Those laws exist for a reason, no? I will note that third tier Broadway actors/stage hands (also entertainers) are able to benefit from these laws, earn low wages, and form unions, etc. Not sure why playing baseball is so different that it should be okay to exempt minor leaguers from these basics.

If you don't consider these ballplayers to hold real jobs that should have benefits of the most basic labor laws in this country, fine. Hey, I am a very pro business guy, but IMO the "we'll find the next guy who will play baseball cheap in the summer because there are no shortage of these guys and besides no one is complaining" is not a sufficient excuse to not pay these ballplayers appropriately.

Is this first statement really true? I'm fine with a having a tradiional minimum wage, but if someone is willing to work a "job" like playing a game for a living, who are we to tell them what they should make?

I guess it all depends on what you feel is appropriate wages. People should decide what they feel they are worth. If a young man is fine with being paid what they are being paid to play a game, then I guess I don't see what the problem is?

[El Gordo]

If MiL teams weren't profitable they wouldn't exist. They couldn't exist without the players, most of whom will never get a cup of coffee. They should be compensated for least a minimum wage and acceptable housing, work place safety, and public health standards. I'm all in favor of removing the anti trust protections. I don't think that kills ML/MiLB, but it may improve the working conditions for MiL players.

[osfan83]

We are not a heartless or vindictive society for the most part. So we have some form of a social welfare system. For better or worse that sets a floor below which few people will work. I probably wouldn't take a backbreaking job for $10k a year unless I was otherwise going to starve. The line between a voluntary agreement to work for $5000 a year and desperately accepting such a job can be blurry.

Well, in this instance I would have a hard time accepting that these guys are desperately accepting this job. I agree with the earlier poster who said you might be able to make a case that these guys should be paying for the opportunity to be trained by the best baseball coaches in the world.