Advocates for MiLB players send letter to Congress asking for same protections given to MLB players
from Victor Barbosa, with YardBarker.com/www.yardbarker.com
Executive Director of Advocates for Minor Leaguers Harry Marino has sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee leadership, calling for MiLB players to get the same protections already given to MLB players, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
According to the report from Passan, Marino’s group has “fought for higher salaries and expanded rights for the more than 5,000 minor league players.” The letter alleges that MLB has “has abused its exemption to the detriment of the American people.”
Marino wrote that Congress should expand the Curt Flood Act — the 1998 law that revoked the league’s antitrust exemption for labor matters with major league players — pointing to low salaries, a fixed wage scale and the law that allows MLB teams to avoid paying minor league players minimum wage or overtime as arguments.
“This competition would help drive wages and working conditions to their fair market level and help bring players out of poverty,” Marino wrote, per Passan.
Players in Triple-A currently make a minimum of $700 a week, Double-A players $600, Single-A players $500 and complex-league players $400. According to Advocates for Minor Leaguers, there are six teams that don’t pay players who are in extended spring training camps.
Players also receive signing bonuses, which range from $1,000 to the $8 million Gerritt Cole received as the No. 1 overall pick in 2011.