A day after the Senate Judiciary Committee inquired about the league's treatment of minor leaguers, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred denied that minor league players are not paid a living wage.
I kind of reject the premise of the question that minor league players are not paid a living wage. In the last few years, we've made a lot of progress in terms of what minor league players are paid, even putting to one side the signing bonuses that many of them have already received. Housing is another form of compensation. The premise of the question was rejected by me. I'm not sure what to say about that.
"I reject the idea that they aren't paid a living wage," he said.
The majority of minor league players' salaries are under the poverty line, even though minor league salaries have increased in recent seasons and teams are mandated to provide housing. While trying to prepare for the next year, many players who aren't on the 40-man roster are forced to supplement their incomes in the off-season because they don't get paid for the entire season.
Harry Marino is the executive director of Advocates for Minor Leaguers. An annual salary of $17.5 million is made by the Commissioner. His suggestion that minor league pay is acceptable is false.
Minor leaguers who alleged minimum- wage and overtime violations by teams were the subject of a class-action lawsuit. More than 20,000 players are covered by the settlement and it calls for MLB to allow teams to pay minor league players during spring training.
The league's century-old antitrust exemption was questioned in a letter from the Judiciary. There is a July 25th deadline for MLB and the MLB Players Association to agree on a framework for an international draft.
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