The Latest on the Plight of Minor League Players in the MLB Pipeline

Major League Baseball continues to try and wind their way toward a potential start to their season. It was originally slated to start on March 26 before getting delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 12. Instead of being two months into the season, we’re sitting here waiting to see if the owners and the MLB Players Association can hammer out a deal that will bring baseball in some form of a season here in the United States. After all, it’s back in South Korea (the KBO), in Taiwan (the CPBL) and next month, the sport is scheduled to return in Japan (the NPB), with their season due to begin on June 19.

As it stands, the upcoming week is a critical one for the two sides to hammer out a deal if they plan on having their season start around July 4. While those negotiations continue to go on, it’s becoming glaringly obvious that there will be a lack of minor league baseball this season.

While the league was paused, minor league players were receiving $400 a week stipends as part of the agreement struck by the owners and the MLBPA. That allowed players to receive money that helped offset the lost salaries players would have received during the season. In some cases, players were making more money than they would if games were being played. However, that stipend is scheduled to run out tomorrow, May 31, and no new deals have been struck in order to keep money flowing for those individuals. Meanwhile, major league teams have been releasing minor league players by the truckload this week in an effort to cut costs. Reports show that more than 200 minor leaguers, mainly in the low minors, were let go on Friday. More than 400 have been cut loose in the last month.

The Oakland A’s, who have had several issues, including a battle about their lease with the RingCentral Coliseum, announced that they wouldn’t be paying the stipend to their minor leaguers after May 31. To date, they remain the lone team that has gone on record to make that decision. On the flip side, there are teams that are looking out for their minor leaguers even without a season on the docket. That’s something that is refreshing given all the uncertainty that has gone on this season.

Houston, Miami, Minnesota, San Diego, Kansas City and Seattle are all committed to paying their minor league players through August 31, which is the typical end of the minor league season. Cincinnati is going to pay their through September 7. The White Sox are among 10 other teams that are continuing for certain through June and went the extra mile, extending that benefit to 25 players that were cut loose earlier this month. In a conference call on Friday, Royals GM Dayton Moore summed up the rationale perfectly:

"Understand this: The minor league players, the players you'll never know about, the players that never get out of rookie ball or High-A, those players have as much impact on the growth of our game than 10-year or 15-year veteran players. They have as much opportunity to influence the growth of our game as those individuals who played for a long time because those individuals go back into their communities and teach the game, work in academies, are JUCO coaches, college coaches, scouts, coaches in pro baseball.They're growing the game constantly because they're so passionate about it. So we felt it was really, really important not to release one minor league player during this time, a time we needed to stand behind them."

You can’t argue with that logic. Without all the guys that don’t make it to The Show or come anywhere near it for that matter, the ones that become everyday players, the stars and the superstars would never make their presence known. While there may be no season for minor league players this year, it doesn’t take away how important the system is for baseball. That pipeline, that organizational structure and the proverbial separation of the wheat from the chaff is something that is taken for granted. These players, no matter where they are on the ladder, deserve to be compensated for their efforts. After all, it isn’t their fault that the situation has developed to the way it is. Hopefully, 2021 will be normal and some of these guys can get back in the mix.