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MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is widely considered the most hated man in baseball. Between pushing for rule changes few fans actually support, botching the punishments for the Houston Astros’ cheating scandal, calling the World Series trophy a “piece of metal,” and smiling when he canceled Opening Day games due to this year’s lockout, Manfred is both an easy and worthy target when it comes to discussing the present and future of the sport.
Manfred drew criticism again on Tuesday for his disappointing but unsurprising answer on salaries for minor league players. Hannah Keyser of Yahoo! Sports asked Manfred if MLB owners don’t pay minor leaguers a living wage because they can’t afford to, or because they aren’t interested in doing so during the commissioner’s media availability ahead of the 2022 MLB All-Star Game. Manfred said he rejects the premise of the question.
Here’s the full quote from Manfred, via Kyle Glaser:
“I kind of reject the premise of the question that minor-league players are not paid a living wage,” Manfred said. “I think that we’ve made real strides in the last few years in terms of what minor-league players are paid. Even putting to one side the signing bonuses that many of them have received, they’ve received housing, which is obviously another form of compensation, so I just reject the premise of the question. I reject the premise that they are not paid a living wage.”
Manfred is right that MLB has made strides lately when it comes to minor league accommodations. Minor league players saw modest pay bumps in recent years, and finally got MLB teams to provide housing during the season this year. The problem is most minor leaguers are only making between $5K and $15K per season while making way below minimum wage. The minimum wage in the United States of $7.75 per hour is not a living wage for the vast majority of Americans, and minor leaguers don’t even earn that much.
Of course, MLB has always done everything in its power to fight against minor leaguers earning a fair wage.
Manfred’s comments come after MLB paid $185 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by minor-league players over unpaid wages. During the proceedings, MLB argued that minor leaguers should continue to go unpaid during spring training because they are gaining work experience like trainees. MLB paid an expert $775 per hour to argue against paying minor leaguers. MLB has been exempt from paying minor leaguers the minimum wage by treating them like seasonable employees.
The salaries for minor leaguers are still pathetically low even with recent increases. Minor leaguers in Single-A to Triple-A earn $500-$700 per week, depending on what level they’re in. While progress has been made, there’s still so much more work to do.
Harry Marino, the head of Advocates for Minor Leaguers, fired back on Manfred after his quote gained traction.
Advocates for Minor Leaguers head Harry Marino calls Manfred’s comments about minor league wages “callous” in a statement. Took less than an hour for them to fire back pic.twitter.com/O4j5EX9WAX— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes)
Manfred makes $17.5 million per year to be baseball’s widely hated commissioner. The people who are wealthy enough to do anything about fixing wages in this country seem like the most out of touch when it comes to actually discussing the issue. Here’s a living wage calculator that shows you what a living wage is in every county in the country. Minor leaguers are still fall way short of it everywhere.
