Jays in Progress of Raising Minor League Pay by 50%

[Stoneyen]

https://sports.yahoo.com/report-blue-jays-finalizing-50-percent-pay-increase-minor-leaguers-141559602.html

 

It appears the Toronto Blue Jays are taking a step towards fair treatment for their players who have yet to reach the highest level, though. Ken Rosenthal and Emily Waldon of The Athletic are reporting that the club is “in the process of finalizing a pay increase of more than 50 percent for any player who is on a roster of an affiliated minor-league club.”

 

Jays vice president of baseball operations Ben Cherington told The Athletic the following:

 

It puts us right now up at the top of the scale in the industry. My hope is it doesn’t stay that way. My hope is other teams eventually do the same.

 

 

Great to see the Jays getting out ahead of the curve and working to improve conditions for all of our minor leaguers!

[Laika]

Wow!

 

A nice move even if their main motivation might be a PR win, as that article lightly suggests.

 

I wonder how much this would actually cost them in dollars.

[Abomination]

This is excellent. It could also give them a BIG leg up in the IFA market (at least until the drafts are combined).

[glory]

Awesome.

[Krylian]

I wonder if they provide basic cooking classes for the kids. That would be a good investment as well I think.

[Brownie19]

Amazing to see the Jays do what's right.

 

Can you imagine getting paid $1,100 a month? f*** me. I read they worked it out and they make like $2/hr or something insane. It's amazing that 'career minor leaguers' even exist.

[L54]

A fantastic and noble move by the Jays. Will certainly put pressure on other teams to follow suit and hopefully this is the beginning of paying these guys a living wage while they’re in season. Nobody should have to quit playing because they can’t afford to continue playing financially.

[Abomination]

It seems like a massive competitive advantage in terms of player development if your prospects can afford to sleep on actual mattresses or buy food that contains protein. Besides the humanitarian aspect of this, I'm sure there is surplus value gained here.

 

I could be wrong, but I think the prospects may stay in places owned by the organization in some cases, and host families in some of the short season leagues.

[L54]

Lots of prospects jam 7 guys in a 2 bedroom apartment because they can’t afford anything else. That is mind boggling

[AdamGreenwood]

Finally, a reason to be proud of the Jays.

[Dick_Pole]

The amount of fawning over this move does not equate to the impact of this move.

 

If what Brownie said is right, how is going from $2 an hour to $3 an hour going to provide any sort of benefit to the team or quality of life change for players? Sounds like a PR move over anything and it's working:

 

Finally, a reason to be proud of the Jays.

 

Whatever happened to you risking it all for chasing a dream? MiLB players are akin to actors. Working for peanuts hoping to make it big. We see that in regular life too. Check out the entry level pay at a law firm vs the cost of getting a law degree. At least players who were good enough to get drafted had their education or "education" paid for, avoiding debt out of school.

 

I don't really have a strong opinion for or against this, just pointing out that this move probably changes nothing and I don't necessarily see why it should change anything.

[BigBounceyBlueBalls]

Really nothing to see here, nothing !!!

 

This does not even a Start to fixing a thing

About the minor league draft, the minor leagues themselves. This actually only proves that Shatkins and Team Blue Jay are ummm

Dumb as hammers !

 

LetÂ’s start a pay war in the the minors ,

Yup this should end well for us and only

Further will screw small market teams!

 

Pay increase lol

 

It was about providing , and training and bettering young men in there efforts to achieve and obtain success !

 

How about First providing Elite Coaching

elite medical staff , Elite training and living accommodations and facilities for them!

Prepare thier Minds, Bodies and give them more then a damn Penut butter sandwich

Elite nutrition and diet you canÂ’t fuel a jet

And expect it to Fly with f***ing water !!!

 

Teach the Children well !!!

 

Coaches forget sometimes we are not trying to make always the Best Player but better men out of these players and to get them there in the end, complete and well rounded !

 

Reality is most will not make it and they will fall short in the end ... But what will you have left them with ... will still make them better in the end then when they started !

 

And less and as is it now .., it fails to do so!

 

This is a nice gesture but really a bandaid

To the problem as a Whole !

[L54]

So DickPole and BBBB were only interested in the Jays fixing the entitre pay structure of the minors. Nothing more nothing less, gotcha

[BigBounceyBlueBalls]

guess you can’t read either !

 

But nice try ... you almost got it !!!

 

Lol

[devo]

The amount of fawning over this move does not equate to the impact of this move.

 

If what Brownie said is right, how is going from $2 an hour to $3 an hour going to provide any sort of benefit to the team or quality of life change for players? Sounds like a PR move over anything and it's working:

 

 

 

Whatever happened to you risking it all for chasing a dream? MiLB players are akin to actors. Working for peanuts hoping to make it big. We see that in regular life too. Check out the entry level pay at a law firm vs the cost of getting a law degree. At least players who were good enough to get drafted had their education or "education" paid for, avoiding debt out of school.

 

I don't really have a strong opinion for or against this, just pointing out that this move probably changes nothing and I don't necessarily see why it should change anything.

 

If a guy is making $1,100/month an extra $550/month is kind of a big deal

[L54]

guess you can’t read either !

 

But nice try ... you almost got it !!!

 

Lol

 

You’re the last person on planet earth who should be questioning anyone’s ability to do anything

[Brownie19]

The amount of fawning over this move does not equate to the impact of this move.

 

If what Brownie said is right, how is going from $2 an hour to $3 an hour going to provide any sort of benefit to the team or quality of life change for players? Sounds like a PR move over anything and it's working:

 

 

 

Whatever happened to you risking it all for chasing a dream? MiLB players are akin to actors. Working for peanuts hoping to make it big. We see that in regular life too. Check out the entry level pay at a law firm vs the cost of getting a law degree. At least players who were good enough to get drafted had their education or "education" paid for, avoiding debt out of school.

 

I don't really have a strong opinion for or against this, just pointing out that this move probably changes nothing and I don't necessarily see why it should change anything.

 

https://www.thescore.com/mlb/news/1737841/blue-jays-increasing-minor-leaguers-salaries-by-over-50-percent

 

Wainwright's math - not mine

[jays4life19]

DUNEDIN,​ Fla.​ – Yes,​ increasing​ minor​ leaguers’​ pay by​ 40 to 56 per​ cent in​ one fell swoop is a momentous move,​​ and indications exist that the Blue Jays might have triggered a trend.

Club officials say the decision, announced to the players in the past few days, will put the Jays’ minor-league pay scale significantly ahead of the other 29 clubs. But they are not gloating.

In fact, they insist they were not courting praise, although they’re hardly hiding from the compliments that have poured in from fans since Emily Waldon and Ken Rosenthal reported on the wage boost in a story for The Athletic on Sunday morning.

The pay raises will not catapult Toronto farmhands into fancy condos or upscale restaurants. And baseball has much left to do to improve the lives of minor-league players, many of whom will still work for wages that put them below the poverty line while living in cramped quarters and enduring long bus rides, acknowledged Mike Murov, the Jays’ director of baseball operations.

“It’s not something we wanted to do overly publicly because we’re not solving all of the issues with minor-league baseball,” Murov said in an interview. “We’re not going to toot our own horn when there are significant challenges that remain. Until you get comprehensive reform regarding facilities, wellness, travel, all of those things, there are going to be significant challenges.”

Over the past three years, the Blue Jays have moved aggressively toward reform in those areas. Those inroads helped set the stage for the pay increases. So did a collective recognition within the front office – including the business side – that it was time to do “the right thing,” Murov said.

Not that they had to.

“It’s not a (collective-bargaining) issue,” Murov said. “It’s not a union issue. It’s a change that somebody has to just do. There’s a lot of inertia within this game, and you have to be able to zoom out and figure out what the right thing is to do.”

Murov echoed what Ben Cherington, Toronto’s vice president of baseball operations, told Rosenthal: The pay increases will not be “life-changing” for any player.

After a 40 per cent raise, a first-year Triple-A player will make roughly $3,050 per month or $15,250 for a five-month season. In Double-A, players will get 50 per cent boost to about $2,550 per month or $12,750 per season. Single-A players receive a 56 per cent raise to just less than $2,400 per month or a shade below $12,000 per season.

It should be stressed that these figures are rough estimates, extrapolated by adding the Jays’ percentage increases to the minimum minor-league salaries set by Major League Baseball. They do not include bonuses or the wide variance in Triple-A salaries based on a player’s experience. And MLB mandates salaries for all players playing their first pro season.

Beyond the percentage increases for each level, Murov declined to provide a more precise salary scale, citing privacy reasons. While the pay increases add a sizeable expense, he also refused to give the total amount the Blue Jays spend on minor-league operations, saying only that it’s “a seven-figure budget line.”

Murov said rival clubs’ baseball operations officials have told him they’re pleased to see the Blue Jays take the lead on prospects’ salaries. Not every club makes its salary scale publicly available through MLB, he said, but it’s possible other teams either have taken similar action or contemplate doing so. Meanwhile, based on the information the Jays have gathered on other clubs, they are confident they now sit atop the pay leaderboard.

If other teams follow suit, baseball will benefit, Murov said. This is not a race to the top but a move that might lead to a new consensus across the majors.

“This year it seems like there are some winds of change, which I think is a good thing for the industry,” he said. “I don’t think anybody went to the same degree that we have, but there does seem to be sentiment within teams that it’s a change that should be made.”

The Blue Jays have extended their largesse to managers and coaches in their minor-league system as well, general manager Ross Atkins said.

“We’ve worked to substantially increase the compensation of minor-league staff, both in terms of salary and security,” Atkins said.

In the past couple of years, the penurious level of minor-league pay has reached a higher level of public consciousness, in part because the U.S. Congress – lobbied aggressively by MLB – explicitly barred minor leaguers from qualifying for minimum wage. As well, three class-action lawsuits on behalf of the players attracted public attention.

Murov said those legal disputes did not drive the Blue Jays’ decision, but he acknowledged that the increased public awareness was a factor.

“Once something floats to consciousness, it’s easier to make a collective change,” he said.

But Murov stressed that the pay increases are a natural progression from the Jays’ investments in other resources for minor-league players – high-performance medical and mental support; a greater emphasis on a healthy diet through staff nutritionists and better clubhouse food; and improved facilities (weight rooms, for example, and the major construction, now in its nascent stage, for new training quarters in Dunedin).

“We’ve invested significantly in mental performance and on things that have gotten a lot of headlines over the years,” he said. “And we did feel like it was time to invest a little bit more significantly in the players and their ability to make good choices off the field.”

Led by Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro, the pay increase evolved from a collaborative effort by staff across the spectrum, from baseball operations to human resources to finance to the legal department, Murov said. The buy-in was unanimous, he said.

“It’s a conversation that’s been going on a while, and it just was about trying to figure out the right amount,” he said. “It’s was a challenge because there aren’t really any firm guideposts, but you have to figure out what’s doable, what’s achievable, what’s going to make an actual difference and what’s going to be sustainable in the future.”

[Spanky99]

https://sports.yahoo.com/report-blue-jays-finalizing-50-percent-pay-increase-minor-leaguers-141559602.html

 

 

 

 

Great to see the Jays getting out ahead of the curve and working to improve conditions for all of our minor leaguers!

 

Great news!

[SaskJaysFan_2]

I wonder if they provide basic cooking classes for the kids. That would be a good investment as well I think.

 

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic, but I think some basic nutrition help etc., could go a long ways.

[SaskJaysFan_2]

If a guy is making $1,100/month an extra $550/month is kind of a big deal

 

Kind of a huge deal.

[Krylian]

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic, but I think some basic nutrition help etc., could go a long ways.

 

Not sarcastic at all.

 

These are kids. Not only is nutrition critical for a pro athlete, it's important for us all. These are life skills that they can take with them regardless of how their baseball careers pan out.

[BigBounceyBlueBalls]

YouÂ’re the last person on planet earth who should be questioning anyoneÂ’s ability to do anything

 

When you are Wrong Brother, just assume you are Right !!!! Guess that works for you!

 

You sure hell cant read if you think mine and Dicks Statements where the Same in content

Or the same it what they conveyed in thought

 

Stop trying to impress yourself and earn browning points with the Hive , try again

 

Better luck next time!

 

Shame about your reading disability though

Saddens me .

[The Cats Ass]

https://www.thescore.com/mlb/news/1737841/blue-jays-increasing-minor-leaguers-salaries-by-over-50-percent

 

Wainwright's math - not mine

 

This would have also been back in 2000-2001. Minimum wage was only $5.15 per hour back then. We also don't know how he calculated his time. Did he include his commute, time spent in the gym, hours on the bus.

[GreekFatAss]

Would love to see us provide free food and apartments to players to better control their nutrition and training time off field too in addition to these increases. Although ideally you would want to pay them $45,000+ a year so they can focus year round on development but that's not going to happen.

[Dick_Pole]

If a guy is making $1,100/month an extra $550/month is kind of a big deal

 

Not in the city where I live. You're still homeless either way. I suppose in Buffalo, where rent can't possibly be more than $200/month, this does make a difference.

[Jimcanuck]

Such little pay makes these guys ripe targets for financial predators

[Laika]

Such little pay makes these guys ripe targets for financial predators

 

Or, you know, the exact opposite?

[TheHurl]

Not sarcastic at all.

 

These are kids. Not only is nutrition critical for a pro athlete, it's important for us all. These are life skills that they can take with them regardless of how their baseball careers pan out.

 

Winky talked to the Radio Scouts about how they have an nutritionist who showed them how to shop (he may have said that they are available at any time to shop with you), but then many of them couldn't afford to eat like they were shown.

[glory]

 

Looks like things are going to change for the better.