Manfred: If MiLB Players Get Raise, Teams will Be Folded

[DrungoHazewood]

Back to the main point, I don't see how being a minor league ballplayer is like having an internship or walking around dressed like Mickey Mouse. Ballplayers have skills. They may not be as skilled as Mike Trout or Jose Fernandez, but they have skills nonetheless. Minor League teams make money off of their skills, so it's not like they are on the water polo team at UCLA or the rowing team at Harvard.

But the minor league teams don't make money off their skills. They make money off of having 20 guys dressed as a baseball team kind of trying to win while providing a family atmosphere and a conduit for $7 hot dogs and $9 beers. When the #2 prospect in baseball takes the mound for the Hickory Crawdads most of the crowd is more concerned about getting their kid a wristband for $6 to play at the playground down the third base line. I assume that affiliated BaySox and unaffiliated BlueCrabs don't have significant revenue differences because of the talent or identity of the players.

[Ohfan67]

Back to the main point, I don't see how being a minor league ballplayer is like having an internship or walking around dressed like Mickey Mouse. Ballplayers have skills. They may not be as skilled as Mike Trout or Jose Fernandez, but they have skills nonetheless. Minor League teams make money off of their skills, so it's not like they are on the water polo team at UCLA or the rowing team at Harvard. I think the main problem is that they are young and most of the lesser talented ones are expected to understand baseball is not in their long term future. These players are all really young. Young people are less likely to fight for better wages, or unionize and are more likely to change jobs. The league takes advantage of this. Just like the internship lawsuits of a year or two ago it looks like the next phase for this is to be decided in the courts.

Oh I'm not arguing for low wages/treating this as a internship. I think minor leaguers should be paid more, I was just referring to some of the posts comparing Disney workers and interns to minor leaguers. I think the kids in the costumes make a pretty darn good hourly wage. More than many minor leaguers!

[weams]

Back to the main point, I don't see how being a minor league ballplayer is like having an internship or walking around dressed like Mickey Mouse. Ballplayers have skills. They may not be as skilled as Mike Trout or Jose Fernandez, but they have skills nonetheless. Minor League teams make money off of their skills, so it's not like they are on the water polo team at UCLA or the rowing team at Harvard. I think the main problem is that they are young and most of the lesser talented ones are expected to understand baseball is not in their long term future. These players are all really young. Young people are less likely to fight for better wages, or unionize and are more likely to change jobs. The league takes advantage of this. Just like the internship lawsuits of a year or two ago it looks like the next phase for this is to be decided in the courts.

But the minor league teams don't make money off their skills. They make money off of having 20 guys dressed as a baseball team kind of trying to win while providing a family atmosphere and a conduit for $7 hot dogs and $9 beers. When the #2 prospect in baseball takes the mound for the Hickory Crawdads most of the crowd is more concerned about getting their kid a wristband for $6 to play at the playground down the third base line. I assume that affiliated BaySox and unaffiliated BlueCrabs don't have significant revenue differences because of the talent or identity of the players.

It has nothing to do with age. Or skilz. It has to do with whether folks will pay billions to watch them juggle their chainsaws or not. There is no discrimination here because the youngsters are will to abide by the rules to have their shot at the Mickey costume and not the Goofy.

[weams]

Back to the main point, I don't see how being a minor league ballplayer is like having an internship or walking around dressed like Mickey Mouse. Ballplayers have skills. They may not be as skilled as Mike Trout or Jose Fernandez, but they have skills nonetheless. Minor League teams make money off of their skills, so it's not like they are on the water polo team at UCLA or the rowing team at Harvard. I think the main problem is that they are young and most of the lesser talented ones are expected to understand baseball is not in their long term future. These players are all really young. Young people are less likely to fight for better wages, or unionize and are more likely to change jobs. The league takes advantage of this. Just like the internship lawsuits of a year or two ago it looks like the next phase for this is to be decided in the courts.

This is not like the internship deal. These are not jobs that they are training towards. There are seven hundred of them. It's like wearing a crown in daily life in terms of likelihood.

[jjnono]

But the minor league teams don't make money off their skills. They make money off of having 20 guys dressed as a baseball team kind of trying to win while providing a family atmosphere and a conduit for $7 hot dogs and $9 beers. When the #2 prospect in baseball takes the mound for the Hickory Crawdads most of the crowd is more concerned about getting their kid a wristband for $6 to play at the playground down the third base line. I assume that affiliated BaySox and unaffiliated BlueCrabs don't have significant revenue differences because of the talent or identity of the players.

This is largely accurate. My company (a large commercial insurance broker) handles the MLB workers compensation program (I don't work on the program). I can say with relative certainty that minor league operations run on the smallest of profit margins. Further, the players, who belong to and are paid by the big league club, are mere tenants in most stadiums, which are owned by various outside interests, if not the cities in which they play. What the players get paid and what the concession workers get paid are often two very distinct decisions.

But it would also be true that if a minor league team had - say Bryce Harper - on its roster, the crowds would almost certainly be larger, and that might put more money not in the MLB owner's pocket, but in the concessionaires and stadium owners pocket, so there is some incentive to have talented kids on the field.... Anyhoo...

[weams]

This is largely accurate. My company (a large commercial insurance broker) handles the MLB workers compensation program (I don't work on the program). I can say with relative certainty that minor league operations run on the smallest of profit margins. Further, the players, who belong to and are paid by the big league club, are mere tenants in most stadiums, which are owned by various outside interests, if not the cities in which they play. What the players get paid and what the concession workers get paid are often two very distinct decisions.

But it would also be true that if a minor league team had - say Bryce Harper - on its roster, the crowds would almost certainly be larger, and that might put more money not in the MLB owner's pocket, but in the concessionaires and stadium owners pocket, so there is some incentive to have talented kids on the field.... Anyhoo...

Thank you. I have very slight knowledge about this as well. I like that there is minor league baseball available to fans. From a selfish standpoint. I live in the city that had Bryce and Strasburg.

[weams]

This is largely accurate. My company (a large commercial insurance broker) handles the MLB workers compensation program (I don't work on the program). I can say with relative certainty that minor league operations run on the smallest of profit margins. Further, the players, who belong to and are paid by the big league club, are mere tenants in most stadiums, which are owned by various outside interests, if not the cities in which they play. What the players get paid and what the concession workers get paid are often two very distinct decisions.

But it would also be true that if a minor league team had - say Bryce Harper - on its roster, the crowds would almost certainly be larger, and that might put more money not in the MLB owner's pocket, but in the concessionaires and stadium owners pocket, so there is some incentive to have talented kids on the field.... Anyhoo...

Bryce and Stephen got Huge moo-la to come play in my little city.

[CheeryO]

But the minor league teams don't make money off their skills. They make money off of having 20 guys dressed as a baseball team kind of trying to win while providing a family atmosphere and a conduit for $7 hot dogs and $9 beers. When the #2 prospect in baseball takes the mound for the Hickory Crawdads most of the crowd is more concerned about getting their kid a wristband for $6 to play at the playground down the third base line. I assume that affiliated BaySox and unaffiliated BlueCrabs don't have significant revenue differences because of the talent or identity of the players.

I doubt the crowd is there just see any old baseball team. It's not like they're paying to watch Homer Simpson play beer league softball. The fans know not all of the guys on these teams will one day play in the majors but they know some of them will, and they watch these teams knowing one or two or more will make it. The logic that only a handful of "maybes" should make millions as bonus babies and that all the others should get peanuts is bs. We all know that many of the bonus babies never make it in the majors and occasionally some of the "never gonna make it" types end up being Mike Piazza. This is only one reason there should be more equitable compensation.

[CheeryO]

This is not like the internship deal. These are not jobs that they are training towards. There are seven hundred of them. It's like wearing a crown in daily life in terms of likelihood.

Of course it's a job some are training toward. Just because not everyone in the mail room at JP Morgan will one day be CEO (or even A VP) of the company doesn't mean only some of the guys in the mail room should get paid a living wage.

[weams]

Of course it's a job some are training toward. Just because not everyone in the mail room at JP Morgan will one day be CEO (or even A VP) of the company doesn't mean only some of the guys in the mail room should get paid a living wage.

Is there a direct path from the mail room to the board room based on skill?

[CheeryO]

This is largely accurate. My company (a large commercial insurance broker) handles the MLB workers compensation program (I don't work on the program). I can say with relative certainty that minor league operations run on the smallest of profit margins. Further, the players, who belong to and are paid by the big league club, are mere tenants in most stadiums, which are owned by various outside interests, if not the cities in which they play. What the players get paid and what the concession workers get paid are often two very distinct decisions.

But it would also be true that if a minor league team had - say Bryce Harper - on its roster, the crowds would almost certainly be larger, and that might put more money not in the MLB owner's pocket, but in the concessionaires and stadium owners pocket, so there is some incentive to have talented kids on the field.... Anyhoo...

The fact that minor league teams run on the smallest profit margins is irrelevant if it's the major league clubs paying millions of dollars to sign the top draft picks and the international free agents.

[weams]

Listen I like all these kids! It's just not a real job. Sorry. It's not something meant to build a life on.

[CheeryO]

Is there a direct path from the mail room to the board room based on skill?

Whether there is or isn't is not the point in this case. The point is you have an idea which players could make it to the majors, but you don't really know until it happens. Then there is the separate debate of whether all workers deserve a minimum wage -- a separate debate that is part economic and part moral.

[Enjoy Terror]

I doubt the crowd is there just see any old baseball team. It's not like they're paying to watch Homer Simpson play beer league softball.

Most of the crowd really is just there to watch any old team. At Aberdeen, it's a bunch of extremely green players making tons of errors. My parents don't go because they want to watch baseball; they want baseball to be the background of a friends and family outing. Because it's cheap and convenient, they can get crabs on the patio, and they can enjoy the summer. This is the reality of most people that go to minor league games. It's not because they wanted to see Cody Sedlock.

[weams]

Most of the crowd really is just there to watch any old team. At Aberdeen, it's a bunch of extremely green players making tons of errors. My parents don't go because they want to watch baseball; they want baseball to be the background of a friends and family outing. Because it's cheap and convenient, they can get crabs on the patio, and they can enjoy the summer. This is the reality of most people that go to minor league games. It's not because they wanted to see Cody Sedlock.

Aberdeen is just fantastic. The players might be like Cal someday. Whatever their name is.