make baseball great again
Congress is quietly trying to codify into law the barely livable wages of minor league baseball players
It is almost physically impossible to read the entire 2,232 pages of Congress' $1.3 trillion spending package before the midnight deadline Friday, which means a certain "Save America's Pastime Act," on page 1,967, might go unnoticed, CBS Sports reports. If the bill passes, though, the act will deliver a decisive blow in the ongoing debate over what to pay Minor League Baseball players.
In order to "save America's pastime," the act would cement into law the exemption of Minor League players from federal labor laws, including minimum and overtime pay. That means players in the process of suing to make a living wage — some earn as little as $1,100 a month — will be out of luck.
Major League Baseball sets the salaries for Minor League players, and the argument to keep wages down, The New York Times writes, is because "baseball considers minor league players as seasonal apprentices, similar to musicians, artists, actors, and others in certain industries who accept low pay for a temporary period as they seek to break into the big time." As Daniel Halem, MLB's deputy commissioner of baseball administration, argued: "Minor League baseball is not a career. It is intended to be an avenue to the major leagues where you either make it, or you move on to something else."
Many baseball fans have argued in favor of paying Minor League players a higher wage, though. "Every year thousands of young men forego their education and other career opportunities to pursue their dream of playing baseball in the major leagues," argued the Detroit Tigers blog Bless You Boys last year. "The vast majority never will."
Major League players, by comparison, often earn six- to seven-figure salaries. Read more about one Minor League player's experience earning $12 an hour while trying to make the big leagues at Bleacher Report.