Reese Kaplan -- Minor League Compensation Is Worse Than Ever

Every now and then I get back on the bandwagon criticizing how minor league ballplayers are treated by the parent organizations.  There are issues with working hours, training equipment, food and the miniscule size of the paychecks.  Extrapolated out it’s clear that minor league ballplayers are not making federal minimum wage but the sport of baseball has an exemption not granted to other businesses.

This week the SFGATE website which was formerly the online portal of the San Francisco Chronicle published a scathing review of what Oakland A’s minor leaguers are facing in this time of pandemic practices being put into place.  The story specifically covered the Stockton Ports, the A-ball affiliate of the Oakland franchise.  

In the recent past minor leaguers helped stretch their paper thin paychecks by staying in the residences of host families when they played in their home ballpark.  These families would volunteer the spaces or charge an extremely nominal amount to provide ballplayers with a place to sleep when playing games in Stockton.  

The pandemic, however, changed things dramatically and host families are no longer available to the A-ball players for fear of spreading the COVID-19 virus.  That now means that the players must stay at the team’s officially selected and designated hotel for their residence.  On the surface, that doesn’t seem all that bad, as hotels would provide a clean room, maid service and have a place for players to get breakfast.  

However, what most folks don’t think about is the expense of the hotel selected for the players to call their home in Stockton.  According to SFGATE, they analyzed the financial records of the ballplayers and the bills from the hotel.  What they discovered was appalling.  The price of the room in the hotel exceeded the entire paycheck given to the A-ball players!  Apparently neither the Stockton Ports nor the Oakland A’s are making a single penny of contribution to help defray these unforeseen expenses nor did they negotiate a significant kind of volume-based reduced rate discount from what is normally charged.  It’s slightly reduced, but not enough to help the players.

How bad is it?  Well, SFGATE says that the standard paycheck for A-ball athletes is $500 per week before taxes.  That amount would drop to about $375 or less after normal deductions.  Now think about even the most reasonably priced hotel near you.  Seven days per week at $50 per night would reach $350 plus taxes.  That would leave players with no money for food, clothing nor training gear.  

While the business is not supposed to operate like a charity, one would think it’s reasonable to expect some kick-in from the top given the pandemic situation that is making host families unavailable.  Players cannot normally get apartments since they are only needed in the summer months and then they would wind up paying for 50% of the time when they are out of town in hotels that are then paid by the Stockton Ports.  

Right now most players are working with roommates in the hotel to try to reduce expenses as much as possible, but the situation is embarrassing, frustrating and frankly unacceptable.  Oakland A’s team owner John Fisher has a $3 billion net worth according to Forbes magazine.  Stockton Ports players don’t even have enough left over to order off the Dollar Menu at McDonald’s.  Something is most definitely wrong here.

By contrast, the Houston Astros had a similar situation and kicked in money to help defray the cost of the team hotel so that the ballplayers would have some pocket money available (though it is on the order of under $100 per every two weeks).  Still, that gesture is significant when compared to what Oakland and the Stockton affiliate are doing to their own players.

These issues are not the only ones affecting minor leaguers, but the drums need to be beaten and the horns blown to alert fans, politicians and team owners that things need to change.