Last week, The Sporting News’ Ryan Fagan published a must-read piece on the immense pay discrepancy between Minor League baseball players and those playing in the NBA’s G-League. The gist is simple: the G-League announced a pay raise for its players, which raises the minimum salary to $35,000 a season, plus benefits.
Meanwhile, a triple-A baseball player might only bring in $11,825, with far fewer benefits than those playing minor league basketball or hockey.
Fagan’s piece goes into the sinister intent behind the Save America’s Pastime Act, which exempts minor league baseball players from the Fair Labor Standards Act.
It’s easy to write-off minor league ballplayers and ignore their financial struggles. After all, a few of them will go onto make big bucks in the majors. But, we can’t ignore that many are working multiple jobs and still barely making ends meet. They might play a game, but it’s their job, and we can’t fault or punish them for pursuing their dreams. At the very least, they need to make a decent wage.
I hope this conversation continues and we can find ways to ensure minor league players in all sports can earn a fair return on their work.
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