Ensuring minor league players are compensated in some way has been an important discussion point in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that has delayed the start of the 2020 season.
It's been a contentious one around Major League Baseball, too.
But according to multiple Pirates sources, there have been ongoing discussions on how to rectify this issue, though those people worried a resolution might have to wait until after MLB and the MLBPA agree on compensation and a variety of other things related to the COVID-19-related stoppage.
One issue here is something that, most times, works to Pittsburgh’s benefit: Pirate City, their Bradenton, Fla., training facility.
Whereas most MLB clubs will pay for their minor leaguers to stay in a hotel during spring training — and can easily convert those costs into a stipend when something like this happens — the Pirates operate a little differently.
The majority of minor leaguers stay and eat at Pirate City, meaning the team and players must work to find a resolution here amid relatively uncharted waters, all while monitoring the negotiations with major league players and expecting MLB to offer some sort of directive for minor league guys.
“Pirate City is still a building that exists, so it’s not quite as much of a direct savings as another team might have,” one source said. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t do something. We’re working through that.”
The Pirates, per sources, have compensated minor league players for travel costs leaving Pirate City, including airfare, baggage and ground transportation, while a small group of mostly foreign players have been allowed to stay, continuing with the aforementioned perks.
The issue involves compensating those who’ve left between now and April 9, when the minor league season was scheduled to start, and also after that date, when they would have — under different circumstances — been paid for the 2020 season.
Those discussions have been ongoing, the sources said, with the Pirates trying to figure out a fair solution for both sides while also taking the appropriate cues from MLB and what results from its discussions with the MLBPA.
“The immediate priority was placed on how best to quickly and safely vacate Pirate City,” one source said. “The focus has now shifted to how best to support the minor league players moving forward. We’re working through that and hope to have a resolution in the coming days.”
While the Pirates want to ensure that these guys receive some sort of compensation, it actually may not be their call. Multiple sources have indicated they expect some sort of directive from MLB in the coming days regarding compensation for minor league players.
MLB last week moved from closing clubhouses to media to canceling spring training games and delaying Opening Day by at least two weeks to, by Monday, following recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to cancel or postpone events that consist of 50 people or more throughout the United States.
That quick succession of events has delayed action on this probably longer than either side would like, as minor league players suddenly found themselves jettisoned from Pirate City — their rooms and food gone, with no sort of stipend to help them get by until baseball resumes.
The situation for minor leaguers is hardly tenable, as the majority of them do not have funds built up to cover such a work stoppage. The minimum salary in Class A was $5,800 in 2019, while those at the upper levels made around $15,000.
The MLBPA is offering an $1,100 weekly stipend to players who have left camp. Eligible are all players on a 40-man roster as of March 13, even if they were on optional assignment, as well as non-roster invitees to big league camps with at least one day of MLB service time accrued in 2019.
Seven Pirates who attended spring training on NRIs did not meet those qualifications: Nick Mears, Nik Turley, Blake Weiman, Jason Delay, Christian Kelley, Phillip Evans and Jared Oliva.
Those guys — as well as guys at lower levels — have every reason to be mad, as they're currently in a tough spot; they can't really work, and they're not getting paid. But the good news is that it sounds like this entire thing should be rectified relatively soon.
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: March 18, 2020, 2:46 a.m.
