Atlanta Braves and MLB need to take care of the minor leagues

If it were truly a two week layoff, that would be one thing.  But it’s fairly obvious now that the Atlanta Braves and MLB are going to be on the bench for a while.  That changes things.

There’s still the invitation for Atlanta Braves players to hang at North Port.  That part is good.  However, the fact that coaches and team administrators are preparing to depart doesn’t suggest that those who remain will have a lot of reason to stay behind themselves.

Such is the word we’re hearing from Florida this morning as MLB.com’s Mark Bowman checks in:

"Though the Braves’ Spring Training facility will remain open to players who choose to stay to work out with select staff members, many of the organization’s employees who reside in Atlanta have either left North Port or are preparing to do so within the next few days. This includes Anthopoulos and manager Brian Snitker."

Here’s the problem:  over the last several months, MLB has made it very clear that minor league baseball isn’t fulfilling their player development needs (i.e., it costs too much) and have announced their intention to flatten the entire structure somewhat – eliminating 40+ teams (and cities) in the process.

Let’s now pile on to that:  minor league players do not get paid during Spring Training… or until their season starts – typically during April’s first week.  Indeed, no players get paid until regular season games begin, but at least most of the major league players from 2019 and before should have some means to weather the hiatus… probably 90% of the others don’t.

This states the problem well:

Now take this one case and multiply it by the 140-odd minor leaguers that are directly impacted.  And now multiply it by 30 teams.

Even more so, those from Latin America and the Caribbean basin who may have barely gotten stateside for their first true Spring experience … they have little money and some might even be effectively stranded now.

Yes – there are some with bonus monies that they have available to them… but we’re talking about maybe 5 players per year per draft who are in this category.  Most signing bonuses are in the $10,000-and-less range… and most of that money was spent long ago.

So if you’re a fringe minor league player – they know who they are – and you were already wondering if you’d be able to make a team once the downsizing occurs, what are you thinking now? 

The phrase “why should I bother?” comes to mind.

The Atlanta Braves, like all other MLB clubs, still need these guys.  Even those who are hanging on for the love of the game are necessary to fill out teams to support the development of players that will be the stars of the next generation.

But it’s baseball’s opinion that we don’t need as many of them as exist today.

Keep this up, and that ‘problem’ may take care of itself.

These guys don’t need to be disrespected.  They don’t need to be ignored.  They truly need to be thanked – repeatedly – for the role they have accepted.

Right now, that starts with something more tangible than a warm handshake (or perhaps a forearm bash given current events).

The Atlanta Braves and Major League baseball are going to lose money on this season delay/shutdown/reduction… whatever it happens to be.  We know that – everybody is going to be hurt.

Proportionately though, these kids are going to get the worst of it… and at some point they will have little choice but to go home and choose not to come back.  That will seriously harm the entire infrastructure of player development.

While losses will happen, this is one that MLB cannot afford to ignore.

As a result, I propose an immediate $2,000 cash payment to all minor-league players to help them cover their losses, travel, and incidentals.

Once April arrives, pay them as they would have been paid under a regular season schedule.

Frankly, those payments were underwhelming as it is… a few years ago in these pages, I suggested a trebling of minor league salaries.  Even as MLB teams are starting to get ‘woke’ about this issue, I stand by that figure.

But at the very least, such monies would encourage these kids to press on and stay for a bit longer.  It would send the message that they have value to the organization and are respected for their efforts.

It’s also the right thing to do.