While Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) work towards an agreement to get the players back on the field, COVID-19 is hurting the game right now. While a strike may seem imminent in the big leagues, the minor leagues are being decimated.
A report from ESPN’s Jeff Passan has mentioned that Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is going to be in a tight spot as the league works through the COVID-19 pandemic and its horrid effects. Passan mentioned that cuts have begun, which are slowly going to decimate the leagues.
Across baseball, hundreds of minor league players were cut today and lost their jobs, sources tell ESPN. Hundreds more will be released over the next week. In the end, upward of 1,000 players could see their baseball careers end. The minor leagues have simply been devastated.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 28, 2020
It is terrible to see players being cut left and right; it is something that has happened in the past but not in this mass amount. Some MLB organizations have already made cuts that will keep their minor leaguers being paid but at a lowered $400 a week rate.
These cuts are helping keep some of the organization’s afloat in their eyes, while the players are being put into some tougher situations. Other players have been outright cut, which means that their careers in baseball are over, due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
In normal years, cuts happen but not en masse like this. The fallout from the coronavirus, expected minor league contraction and the anticipated cancellation of the 2020 minor league season prompted organizations each to release dozens of players, who were being paid $400 a week.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 28, 2020
Baseball is in a tight spot right now, MLB owners have become stingy with money for their organizations, some owners commenting that they do not want to play this 2020 season. There was an agreement in place between the MLB And MLBPA to return to play eventually, but the latest talks have made it seem like there will be a strike before a return to the ball field.
The issue the two sides are having with this agreement is the financial and economic side of things. This issue is bleeding over to MiLB teams who are forced to part ways with players due to lack of funding within leagues that are already struggling.
More cuts will come, organizations may have to fold, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, MiLB teams are going to have to continue to adjust to make sure they can try and stay afloat. However, the issues between MLB owners and the MLBPA are going to make things complicated.
