Minor-leaguers and their advocates hope Congress will revoke MLB’s antitrust exemption. Here’s how they are pushing for change.
CHICAGO — Rob Manfred’s response to a question last month about minor league salaries before the All-Star Game took off when the Major League Baseball commissioner said “I reject the premise that they’re not paid a living wage.”
Response on social media was swift.
In 2020, two years after successfully lobbying Congress to exempt minor-leaguers from federal minimum-wage laws through the Save America’s Pastime Act, MLB opted to give players a salary increase. Players at rookie and short-season levels saw their minimum weekly pay raised from $290 to $400, and players at Class A went from $290 to $500, Double A from $350 to $600 and Triple A from $502 to $700.
That same year, former players Raul Jacobson, Ty Kelly, Matt Paré, longtime labor leader Bill Fletcher Jr. and others formed a nonprofit called Advocates for Minor Leaguers to “provide a collective voice” for minor league players.
“Most minor league baseball players work second jobs because their annual salaries are insufficient to make ends meet,” the group said in a
