A sign of the times? No minimum wage in the minors, imminent

[WeatherWonk]

On the surface, one could just chalk this up to good old-fashioned capitalism. Let the market decide.

Except, of course, that baseball is a sanctioned monopoly. So, these kids can't really take their talents elsewhere.

The sport has never been richer.............yet minor league slugs have to get by on less than 2K/month. Even that is apparently too much for MLB. So, they employ lobbyists to get them an exemption to Federal minimum wage legislation.

From ESPN...........

Minor league baseball players who make as little as $5,500 a season would be stripped of the protection of federal minimum wage laws under a provision in government spending legislation expected to be approved by Congress this week.

The "Save America's Pastime Act" is included on page 1,967 of the $1.3 trillion spending bill and appears to pre-empt a lawsuit filed four years ago in U.S. District Court in San Francisco by three players alleging Major League Baseball and its teams violate the Fair Labor Standards Act and state minimum wage and overtime requirements for a work week they estimated at 50-to-60 hours.

The provision in the legislation would exempt "any employee employed to play baseball who is compensated pursuant to a contract that provides for a weekly salary for services performed during the league's championship season (but not spring training or the offseason) at a rate that is not less than a weekly salary equal to the minimum wage ... for a workweek of 40 hours, irrespective of the number of hours the employee devotes to baseball related activities."

The House approved the spending bill Thursday and the legislation appears likely to be approved by the Senate and signed by President Donald Trump.

"Instead of going through the regular committee process where it has a hearing, all of this was done in secret and a in a very rushed manner," Garrett Broshuis, the lawyer for the players, said Thursday. "It's emblematic of how things are getting done in Washington these days, where the people with a lot of money are able to flex their political muscle and make a lot of contributions and get things done in secret that benefit only them."

Major League Baseball spent $1.32 million on lobbying expenses in both 2016 and 2017, up from $330,000 in 2015, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. MLB paid $400,000 each of those years to an outside firm, the Duberstein Group, which reported lobbying the House and Senate on the issue, as did MLB's in-house lobbyist.

"We aren't billionaire business owners and billionaire team owners," said Broshius, a minor league pitcher from 2004-09 who later became a lawyer.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/22873852/baseball-players-minors-lose-minimum-wage-protection

[Blarg]

Just now, WeatherWonk said:

Except, of course, that baseball is a sanctioned monopoly. So, these kids can't really take their talents elsewhere.

Maybe you haven't heard of all the other leagues we draw talent from. Any player that wants to can play for other countries, they just don't see the big paycheck of the US major leagues. Still, the life in the minors here is a damn sight better than in the Mexican leagues. Except for the lack of good tacos once you leave the Southwestern conference. 

[Blarg]

And by the way, you need to add a link to the article and only post a paragraph or two so they get the traffic. 

[WeatherWonk]

17 minutes ago, Blarg said:

And by the way, you need to add a link to the article and only post a paragraph or two so they get the traffic. 

Ok. Wasnt aware of that requirement.

[m0nkey]

Why is here a comma in the title?

[VariousCrap]

Sneaking it through like that is pure BS for sure.

[WeatherWonk]

55 minutes ago, m0nkey said:

Why is here a comma in the title?

"Why is here a comma in the title", Mr. Grammar?

Imminent, in that Trump's signing of the bill could be imminent.

[ScottT]

Sneaky bastards.

Reminds me of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act

[WeatherWonk]

Its a done deal. Trump signs it into law. MLB lobbyists clinking champagne-filled crystal flutes.

The best government money can buy.

And we wonder why wages are flat, yet corporate profits at record levels..............

[AngelsLakersFan]

It's good that MLB teams seeing record revenue won't be destroyed by having to pay minimum wage.

It's great that a corporation given an anti-trust exemption which protects it from competition from other businesses doesn't have to follow laws passed to protect workers from exploitive businesses.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

7 hours ago, WeatherWonk said:

"It's emblematic of how things are getting done in Washington these days, where the people with a lot of money are able to flex their political muscle and make a lot of contributions and get things done in secret that benefit only them."

Indeed. It's hard to justify this when you see the megabuck contracts that players at the major league level get.

[disarcina]

this is just plain wrong...........these players in minor league ball are already making peanuts.

it's amazing these guys go from starvation wages to millions by making the 25 man roster.

and then - the new trend in MLB seems to have a real stratified structure where the top stars have multi-million dollar contracts way over the top and others from the 3rd year middle infielder to the bench depth guy make at least the MLB minimum but  in recent years seem to have a shorter and shorter shelf life (career) in MLB.

so the MLB roster of players is filled with about 50-75 of the elite top players breaking the employers' bank and then the rest of the players who the F/O cobbles together with the money available to field a (hopefully) competitive team.

[GrittyVeterans]

Really silly. They could easily give guys in AAA something like 50K a year...That's still not very much money but it's at least enough to not be stressed out about feeding your kids or whatever.

 

The average salary in the AHL (minor league hockey) is 75K a year I believe. And there is way more money in baseball than hockey. 

[notherhalo]

On 3/23/2018 at 7:32 AM, WeatherWonk said:

....firm, the Duberstein Group, which reported lobbying the House and Senate on the issue, 

They Danny Dubersteined the F out of those minor leaguers 

 

[bruin5]

Where does the $5500 come from?  Playing in the independent leagues?  

That’s one of those headlines that sounds good but totally lacks context.