Minor Leaguers as the Working Poor

[Odenton O]

Here's the thing...we need to view MLB as one company. The Yankees can't survive as a team without the rest of the league. So players elect to work for MLB....the company may move them between divisions within the company......If I work for Coca Cola in the bottling plant, I'm not free to decided I want to work in the marketing department. Just like if I work for the White Sox department of MLB I can't just decided I want to work for the Braves division of the company.

But Coca-Cola can't prevent you from going to work in Pepsi's marketing department. The only alternatives to MLB are the indendent leagues or foreign leagues. Until there are some competitve alternatives outside the MLB system, minor league players have almost no leverage when it comes to negotiating the terms of their employment, something most people take for granted.

[BradyBunch]

I don't think they are tryong to unionize. I didn't get that from the article. I think they want to improve the base level standard of living. It doesn't seem like all that big a deal, and it probably would improve the quality of play. Just provide them with better housing, nutrition, and a little better pay, so that it would be commensurate with minimum wage jobs.

This is hogwash. They have a better standard of living then you or I at 18-22. In they are drafted in the first 10 rounds they are clearing signing bonuses in the $200,000 range or higher.

Last year's O's 25th round pick got a signing bonus of $200,000. O's typically slot about $100,000 for each pick after the 10th round.

So you have minor leaguers who are sitting on about $100,000 (maybe less or more) going into Rookie ball. They then they get league pay.

So let's be honest here. Signing bonus plus $850 or so for Rookie ball per money. Once you get to double A you getting paid minimum wage when you hit AAA you are getting double minimum wage per league minimum. Most guys get paid more then league minimum.

So crying a river over a 18 who has $100,000 sitting in the bank and has to use some of that to pay basics of life is pointless.

Either the signing bonuses go away or they are gonna get paid what they get paid now.

[osfan83]

But Coca-Cola can't prevent you from going to work in Pepsi's marketing department. The only alternatives to MLB are the indendent leagues or foreign leagues. Until there are some competitve alternatives outside the MLB system, minor league players have almost no leverage when it comes to negotiating the terms of their employment, something most people take for granted.

And if I'm an Astronaut and I don't like the working conditions at NASA, where do I go in the US?

[BradyBunch]

This is hogwash. They have a better standard of living then you or I at 18-22. In they are drafted in the first 10 rounds they are clearing signing bonuses in the $200,000 range or higher.

Last year's O's 25th round pick got a signing bonus of $200,000. O's typically slot about $100,000 for each pick after the 10th round.

So you have minor leaguers who are sitting on about $100,000 (maybe less or more) going into Rookie ball. They then they get league pay.

So let's be honest here. Signing bonus plus $850 or so for Rookie ball per money. Once you get to double A you getting paid minimum wage when you hit AAA you are getting double minimum wage per league minimum. Most guys get paid more then league minimum.

So crying a river over a 18 who has $100,000 sitting in the bank and has to use some of that to pay basics of life is pointless.

Either the signing bonuses go away or they are gonna get paid what they get paid now.

Have no edit function but that's month, not money.

[El Gordo]

Have no edit function but that's month, not money.

We aren't talking about the ones with big bonuses, we are talking about the most who don't get them. And what is truly hogwash is you supposing that you have any idea of what my standard of living was between 18-22, pretty sure you weren't even alive then, but even so it's presumptuous BS.

[scOtt]

And just as an FYI to all of those out there in OH land with dirty minds (probably all of us).... 'cum' means 'with' as in getting our degree Summa Cum Laude

O's are Magna Cum Laude. Undefeated in Grapefruit League play.

[osfan83]

Hypothetical question: What if MLB eliminated all minor league teams below AA. Then charged players $5k to be part of a single A level team. Kind of like college for baseball. You could take out a student loan to pay the fee. In exchange you received instruction from top level coaches, and were guaranteed that MLB scouts would be at a number of games.

What do you think would happen? Would anyone pay the tuition for this opportunity?

[Plutarch]

And if I'm an Astronaut and I don't like the working conditions at NASA, where do I go in the US?

Really??? You're comparing being an astronaut (someone with a highly technical and specialized background/education) who could go on to excellent pay in multiple fields to an 18-20 baseball player with, at best, a HS diploma

[El Gordo]

Hypothetical question: What if MLB eliminated all minor league teams below AA. Then charged players $5k to be part of a single A level team. Kind of like college for baseball. You could take out a student loan to pay the fee. In exchange you received instruction from top level coaches, and were guaranteed that MLB scouts would be at a number of games.

What do you think would happen? Would anyone pay the tuition for this opportunity?

You'd have to give full scholarships to players from Latin America.

[Plutarch]

Hypothetical question: What if MLB eliminated all minor league teams below AA. Then charged players $5k to be part of a single A level team. Kind of like college for baseball. You could take out a student loan to pay the fee. In exchange you received instruction from top level coaches, and were guaranteed that MLB scouts would be at a number of games.

What do you think would happen? Would anyone pay the tuition for this opportunity?

Let's consider the possible outcomes:

1) Only those of means (mostly white people) will be playing baseball

2) Poor people take out a loan and if they don't make it, try and pay it back

3) Someone with financially backs/sponsors a kid with talent for a piece of any future gains (sort of like a VC company or South American soccer player)

Don't see any of these options working out well for the average MiL'er

[Guest rochester]

I think you need to read the whole thread. I'm clearly talking about what someone else wrote earlier and joking about the spelling. I would clearly google soemthing like that if I didn't know how to spell it.

Tony:

I know that - I was trying to be funny...or something like that.

In the beginning I was reading the entire thread but I get bored with the sanctimonious posts about how bad ALL successful people are, especially if they use one's racial status, which is so far off the beaten path, but so typical these days in the attempt to make a point.

[Plutarch]

This one is for Drungo:

http://cocktails.about.com/od/whiskeyrecipes/r/liberal-cocktail.htm

The Liberal cocktail is an old classic that deserves to be revived. Featuring the spiciness of rye whiskey with sweet vermouth and Amer Torani and orange bitters, this is a sophisticated cocktail. Try this one the next time you are at a classic cocktail bar or make one up at home. You will be pleasantly surprised.

Prep Time: 3 minutes

Total Time: 3 minutes

Yield: 1 Cocktail

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounces rye whiskey

1/2 ounce sweet vermouth

1/4 ounce Amer Torani

2 dashes orange bitters

lemon twist garnish

Preparation:

In a mixing glass, add all ingredients except lemon twist.

Add ice. Stir.

Strain into a chilled martini glass.

Garnish with a lemon twist.

[droper]

How awesome that the offseason turned around well enough that this discussion warranted 20+ pages.

My two cents, like all jobs they are free not to take it and try to make more elsewhere.

If they don't want to play rookie ball in association with a Major League club they can shop their wares to the independent league teams if they feel they're worth more. Look at it more like a low paying internship possibly leading to a big payday

[DrungoHazewood]

Hypothetical question: What if MLB eliminated all minor league teams below AA. Then charged players $5k to be part of a single A level team. Kind of like college for baseball. You could take out a student loan to pay the fee. In exchange you received instruction from top level coaches, and were guaranteed that MLB scouts would be at a number of games.

What do you think would happen? Would anyone pay the tuition for this opportunity?

A few would, but more would play for indy leagues, everyone who could go to college would, and other opportunities would appear to fill the gaps.

I have to think your plan is unworkable, at least under any arrangements that come to mind. The draft would have to be radically changed, or scrapped. How could you draft 30-40 kids and tell them "pay us $5k a year to play, or don't play baseball"? In about 10 minutes indy leagues would start snapping up every eligible player, and soon after there'd be lawsuits against MLB concerning the drafting of indy leaguers who had no choice but to play outside the system while remaining the property of a MLB team.

In any case, college football and basketball players don't pay to go to school and play sports. The vast majority of pro prospects are on scholarship. I don't know of any precedent for paying for sports training on the hopes of one day being a professional.

[BradyBunch]

We aren't talking about the ones with big bonuses, we are talking about the most who don't get them. And what is truly hogwash is you supposing that you have any idea of what my standard of living was between 18-22, pretty sure you weren't even alive then, but even so it's presumptuous BS.

We are talking about Bonusesand pay. In payment structure there are different ways to pay someone. You know things like Salary vs Hourly, Bonus package vs no Bonus package. Health insurance vs no Health Insurance. These different determine make a huge difference in calculating their pay.

A person who's with a company that doesn't offer health insurance will typically get paid more then a person who does get health insurance with their company. CEO and mid level management will get bonuses that supplement their salary. See: any CEO who gets $3-$5 million salary but gets double that in bonuses.

For the months the players are playing ball they meet Federal Guidelines.

On top of that since this is suppose to be void of politics, I have to assume your standard of living is current standard of living under current minimum wage laws and not subject to CPI differences (fraud) over the last 40 years. So yes, When they are bringing home $100,000 20th round as a signing bonus they are getting paid more then 18 or 22 yr old.