Minor League Owners Fear MLB Passes Big Bill After Collective Bargaining

At the Winter Meeting in San Diego last month, Rob Manfred spoke with owners representing all 120 minor league teams. The commissioner told the group it should be expected to share some of the costs arising from collective bargaining between MLB and the players union, according to people who attended the meeting.

“He clearly showed that everyone in this room must make their own sacrifices,” recalled one of the minor-league owners, who were not allowed to speak publicly.

In mid-January, MLB will submit its first counter-proposal to the MLBPA to address the first CBA governing minors. As the negotiations continue, another group that influences the bottom line watches in horror. Minor league owner.

The minor league owners weren’t directly involved in the negotiations, but are said to have received updates from MLB. Minor his league players are employed and paid by major league teams, so negotiations are held between the league and his MLBPA.

Rob Manfred (Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

Some minor league owners believe MLB has plenty of headroom to pass on some of the increased costs that the new CBA will require. All affiliates have an agreement with MLB known as a Player Development License (PDL). But exactly what changes these agreements allow is an important question. The terms of each team’s contract with MLB are strictly adhered to by all parties involved.

“They have a lot of discretion when it comes to player-related items,” said one owner. “For example, early in the pandemic, or during the pandemic, they decided they needed extra buses, and the costs would be borne by minor league teams. These types of extra amenities. will hit us.

“MLB understands what their responsibilities are. Basically, salaries and other types of benefits that need to be provided, housing costs, they’re all under MLB’s jurisdiction. Clubhouse.” , travel and other amenities that need to be provided are arguably more than MLB’s responsibility and will no doubt be passed on to minor league teams.”

A league official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said a framework was already in place to handle these changes. A split is required. If the MLBPA succeeds in raising the minimum level of accommodations for his minor leaguers, the raised costs will be processed according to the divisions already stipulated.

The person said MLB cannot unilaterally set new categories of costs, noting that it has a governance structure in place to handle such changes. As an MLB and minor league owner, he has a nine-member executive committee. Four minor league owners, four of his MLB officials, and her ninth out-of-sports person have been appointed by other members of the board. However, some minor league owners feel they should ultimately choose which issues are addressed by their board representatives because of the league’s greater influence.

Some people who run minor league clubs feel like on the sidelines during negotiations. Once his minor leaguers formed a union, the player earned the right to request information about the business, including financial statements from his minor league team.

“One of the first requests the union made to MLB was to provide operational information about minor league teams from a revenue perspective,” the owner said. “My sense is that they are trying to negotiate the success of a minor league team, and they understand that is the weak point of MLB negotiations because we unions are A, B, C. and MLB doesn’t.This hurts—let’s go for it.Minor league teams make an average of X dollars a year and can afford to pay a little more for A, B, and C. Because I can show you something.”

Players’ officials suggested that these complaints were a natural consequence of players getting union representation for the first time, and that both major and minor league owners could easily afford the change. I would say there is a high chance that there will be.

Last year, Manfred said MLB subsidizes the minor leagues about $1 billion a year.

“MLB plans to spend at least $1.03 billion to operate the minor league system in 2022,” Manfred wrote. “Of that amount, approximately $750 million will be spent on player compensation and benefits, which will exceed $800 million by 2023. We have received approximately $25 million in revenue, resulting in over $1 billion in net subsidies provided by MLB clubs to minor league operations.”

Defenders of discontinued nonprofits for minor leaguers characterized MLB’s investment in a different way.

“Absence is an explanation for why the owner does this,” the advocate wrote of the subsidy. It completely ignores that product development (players, fans, rules, etc.) is done in minor leagues, and like any other industry, this R&D has tremendous economic value. may be difficult to quantify with precision, but mainstream metrics and common sense clearly show that MLB has an excellent return on its minor league investments.”

Ultimately, some minor league owners resent MLB’s level of control, citing increased costs since the PDL was agreed. When the PDL took effect for the 2021 season, MLB collected his 8.5% of ticket revenue. The league then began collecting additional money, between 50 cents and $1 per ticket. The money is said to be allocated to sell more tickets.

All minor league owners had the option to sign the PDL, but many felt they had a strong arsenal. Entering 2021, MLB has changed its minor league structure, contractually and otherwise. The league has acquired 40 teams from traditional affiliated umbrellas. Previously, 160 teams were minor league affiliates, from Triple-A level to Rookie Ball. From 2021 it will be 120.

But minor league players have done one notable thing minor league owners haven’t done in recent years.

(Top photo: John E. Moore III/Getty Images)