3:14pm: The Astros will also pay their minor leaguers through August, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle tweets. The Red Sox will do the same, Julian McWilliams and Alex Speier of the Boston Globe write. The Reds will pay theirs through Sept. 7, the end of the scheduled minor league season, per C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic.
2:16pm: As teams throughout the league make sweeping releases at the minor league level, neither the Twins nor the Royals plan on cutting any players, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter links). The Twins and Royals will also commit to paying all of their minor league player the current $400 weekly stipend through Aug. 31 — the would-be end of the minor league season — while providing full benefits. The Twins are also committing to front-office and baseball ops staff through at least the end of June, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com tweets.
To this point, no other clubs in the league have made such a commitment. The Marlins, Padres and Mariners all agreed to pay their minor leaguers through season’s end, although none of that bunch is known to be entirely avoiding minor league releases. Seattle, in fact, reportedly cut 50 minor league players this week already. The volume of players being released around the league is jarring — the D-backs cut a reported 64 players — although it should be noted that many of the releases would’ve come at the end of Spring Training under normal circumstances anyhow.
That doesn’t detract from the gesture made by the Twins or Royals, of course. It’s a stark contrast to an organization such as the Athletics, who informed minor league players earlier this week that they’ll no longer be paid after May 31. As MLB.com’s Jim Callis observes (on Twitter), the decision made by the Twins and Royals could quite likely prove beneficial in recruiting undrafted players who are selecting among teams while capped at a $20K signing bonus this summer.
Only time you’ll see people happy with the Pohlads.
A very nice move. I think I just became a Twins and Royals fan.
Good move for everyone involved.
While maybe not each team owner’s primary motivation, signaling they value minor leaguers enough to pay them through August may also help KC and Minnesota retain and/or recruit minor-league free agents in the future.
You have ZERO idea the Royals or Twins or ANY owner’s motivation. Why didn’t you just leave it at “good move for everyone involved”? What virtues of yourself are you attempting to signal?
Dude relax, I think hes just speculating about a sports motive on a sports website
Good for them.
If they can do it, almost all the other clubs should be able to, particularly the big markets. Here’s hoping the list gets a lot longer.
Royals can afford it they have a way smaller pay roll
Good on the Twins and Royals parts bravo
It seems like a nice move but wouldn’t it be prudent to release the guys you would’ve released if there wasn’t Covid-19 so they can get on w/their lives?
Because the Astros are a class organization.
How is a class organization get caught cheating? They’re an embarrassment to the game.
I don’t know if you are being sarcastic, or you don’t understand it’s sarcasm.
Whats funny in a couple years when Altuve and Springer are on your favorite team you’ll be the first one to buy a jersey
It has to be difficult for those who are a part of minor league and summer baseball leagues. We all face tremendous challenges in life which usually make us stronger, but start out as unexpected and often overwhelming.if not impossible situations.
These are the guys people should be fighting for, not Sherzer and his millions.
This comment is not an accurate depiction of how market forces work. Scherzer has many, many, millions because he is an elite talent. Few people can accomplish what he has in this sport. Most in the minor leagues will never be as good as Max and those who are will work their way up.
However, to say we should help poor talent because they are poor overlooks the fact these guys are not paid much because they are interns. If you want to make an argument for higher minor league wages, then that is one thing. But to say we should be fighting for low-grade talent because people are shocked teams are cutting off talent they would have let go anyway misses the entire purpose of the minor leagues.
THIS, is a very accurate assessment of who the MLBPU should be fighting for, THEY, are the future of The Game.
Low-level players who may never get a sniff of the Bigs are not the future. They are there to fill slots in order to field a team.
Suddenly happy to have David Price on the Dodgers. Very class move by him!
Dude relax, I think hes just speculating about a sports motive on a sports website
I’m trying to do the math on this.
Since teams committed to paying through end of May, we are basically talking about 3 months. At $400 per week, that’s $5200. With various benefits (health insurance), call it $7500.
I’m roughing this, but I believe teams have 35 man rosters for each minor league team. As of now, that’s about 175 roster spots based on each franchise having a rookie, low A, High A, AA, and AAA team (which is obviously going to change). Call it 200 players when including those who are injured.
200 players times $7500 is $1.5 million.
I don’t want to be totally dismissive of owner’s concerns, but seems to me that purely as a baseball and PR move you just pay that. Never mind the basic humanity.
Edit- I don’t know if baseball players are eligible for unemployment. If so, then that may change the above calculation.
I guess they can add another 1500-2000 players to the unemployment system due to covid-19. Then add all the stadium and team personnel affiliated with the contracted teams. Factor in lost vendor sales (food, clothing, novelty, etc), city/township revenue, hotels, local tv and radio station revenue…man, that’s a lot of people that get effected.
I’ve been a lifelong Cardinals fan, but from here on out, I have a feeling that my family, my friends, my co-workers, and I will abandon the Cardinals completely, and become fans of Kansas City instead