The Harsh Conditions of Minor League Baseball

This is a joke right?

He made $400,000 in 2010 according to http://www.baseball-reference....rs/h/hayhudi01.shtml

Call me crazy, but I'm not going to feel bad for anybody playing a child's game.  If you want to make more than a minor league baseball player then go get a different job!  Simple.

Nobody on here will be able to sway my thoughts on this topic.

If you want to take the chance at the nearly half million dollar "minimum" salary of in the MLB then you may have to "volunteer" for a few years.  Get over it.  Or come join the rest of us in the real world!

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com/bus_tour

If you have not played in the MiLB or have a son that has, your response is short sighted at best.

Not true.

Nobody is forcing you or your son to play baseball.  You or he did it as a choice.  Just like how I once made a choice to give kayak tours during the summer.  Perhaps I should sue the the kayak shop for low wages despite the fact that my "job" involved me floating down the river!

If these poor boys were being forced to do this like some kind of sweat shop then this would be a different discussion.  These guys know the deal.  

They are choosing to play a child's game and they are mad they are being paid well.

No sympathy here.  Sorry, not sorry.

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

Wonderfully written and thought provoking, as often happens with Hayhurst.

One aspect he does not mention is the  impact on the ability to work after baseball is over, due to career ending injuries which have long term impact beyond baseball for more than a few.

Hayhurst's view that the situation does not need to be "either/or" is absolutely on point, in my view, especially with the money being made not only by MLB, but also  by many of  the investors in the MILB teams who are raking in millions of profits.  Whether it be the Carolina League, Midwest League or most others, those 18-28 year olds filling the stadiums are also more than filling the pockets of millionaires and  pretty much living as Hayhurst describes.  Hopefully, more and more focus will bring the topic to a discussion point and create the possibility for rethinking the "thinking" of let's keep doing it because we always have.

Very good article. Thanks for sharing, MTH. The grind to chase the dream is very real and often very humbling. Hayhurst is an outstanding writer.

Rich- Just because it's reality and widely accepted doesn't make it easy. Living on the salaries of low-level minor league players is extremely difficult. Very few complain, and all recognize they're getting paid to play a game. But to say "suck it up and shut up," to me, speaks to a misunderstanding of the point of the article. It's both awesome and difficult, simultaneously, is what I interpreted as the point. No harm in recognizing that reality.

Yeah, I agree. All these players who don't get paid a living wage should just go find another job. This game should only be for the people who can afford it!

Everybody has a different idea of a "dream job" right.

Each dream job comes with sacrifices.

How many of you know a college coach that got paid $0 this year in hopes that he'll make anything more than $0 next year.  All so that he can make a little more than that in a few years.

Anybody go see a doctor this year?

My friends that are doctors also had to spend years in the "minor leagues" learning their trade.  The difference is they had to PAY for med school.  Most of the cripple themselves with debt in hopes of getting to fulfill their dream of become a doctor.

So, OldSkool, I'd say the "game" can be for all.  The "profession" does not have to be for all.  If you are going hungry chasing that dream then make a decision if its worth it or not.

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com/bus_tour

Honestly, it isn't a surprise to those who go that route. You know going in that you're chasing a dream that only pays off if you are one of the fortunate to reach the top. When I got out of the navy, I moved to nashville and spent seven years chasing a recording contract. It meant working odd jobs, playing clubs at night for very little or (usually) no money. Nashville was a city full of people chasing the dream so night clubs didn't pay the bands. If you didn't want to play for tips, there were 500 other acts that would take your place in a heartbeat. After seven years and a small paying developmental contract with a major label that paid very little, required a lot from me, and did little to advance my career, I left with my tail between my legs. When I graduated from law school, I worked 7 months at my first job with no pay for the CHANCE of being hired full time eventually. Baseball is no different.

Rich- I'm not entirely sure what your point is. When I interned with the Nationals last year, I made about $250 per week. They didn't provide housing or relocation reimbursement or benefits. I ate cold breakfast at the clubhouse and picked at the lunch spread that was catered for employees. I worked approximately 60 hours a week. There was no guarantee of employment beyond the position.

I was well-aware of all of the above going into the job, and still accepted it. This was coming off of graduating from Georgetown with a Master's degree and accumulating some pretty hefty student loans. I knew it was something I needed to do in order to get my foot in the door.

Just because I was aware of the reality, and accepted the reality, didn't make living through it any easier. It was still difficult to do.

Hayhurst was simply painting a picture that "paying your dues" is often hard, and almost always necessary. I don't think anyone would disagree with that, and I'm not sure what vendetta you have against that statement. If you interpreted the Hayhurt piece differently, please let me know.

I'm just using this quote J H, not really a response to you.

Just because someone is aware of something before they do it doesn't mean it's right. You shouldn't force people to live in squalor or force them into harsh conditions if they they want to do that profession. Let's say coal miners knew what they were getting into and still chose to do it, would you say it's ok that they are given such harsh conditions? Granted MiLBers have a much lower risk of death and disease, but unacceptable and unfair conditions are still unacceptable and unfair conditions no matter the payoff at the end (which majority of people don't get).

JH - 

My issue is with the complaints of low pay & groups threatening to sue for competitive pay.  Apparently MiLB players think they are the only people in the country that have had to pay their dues.  Look at you...  You put in long hours for short pay in order to gain experience, network and otherwise work towards your goals.  And you did it willingly!  

Rich

Why does every other group who has to work "long hours for short pay" need to get fairly compensated for MiLBers to have a fair complaint and get fairly compensated? 

If MiLB players believe they're being wrongfully compensated, why is it inappropriate of them to attempt to right this proverbial ship? Just because employees in other industries are wrongfully compensated doesn't mean that MiLB players shouldn't have the ability to fight for their own wages. Suppressing wages in multiple industries is the economic basis for communism. "Paying your dues" isn't a logical or economic fallacy, but there are legal limitations that employers must adhere to. I am not saying outright that MLB teams are violating laws by intentionally suppressing MiLB wages beyond the scope of what the government allows, but the right for MiLB players to seek justified wages is not correlated with the wages of employees in other industries. 

Just to clarify, RIch.

Baseball is not a child's game.  Children cannot play even a reasonable approximation of it.

Just because MiLB players chose a hard path voluntarily doesn't mean we can't have compassion on them or acknowledge the basic unfairness of living under a financial system negotiated by two parties (MLB and MLBPA), neither of whom seem to have considered MiLB player interests much when they divvied up the pie among themselves.

Even so, I generally agree with your point that minor league baseball is akin to the grueling apprenticeships and internships in other fields that also offer no guarantees of a living wage now or financial security in the future (see "D1 volunteer assistant coach" for another example).  However, it does not strengthen your argument to sprinkle in cheap, disparaging shots like "child's game" and "poor boys."

BTW the college ballplayers who major in fields like sports management tend to have it even worse after graduation than their teammates who do sign minor league contracts.  I talked with a former athlete who had a degree in one of these jock majors.  Couldn't even find an internship, so he doubled down and got a masters in the same field.  The extra diploma landed him an unpaid internship with an NFL team.  After two years, he was promoted to a paid position and finally made enough to share a 1 BR apartment with two other guys.  The cramped quarters weren't a problem because his 70-hour work weeks kept him from spending any time there.  He said if he didn't like the pay or conditions, the team could easily replace him within an hour.  

Such is the scramble to gain footing on the ladder toward any career that lots of people would love to have.  Many, many of our young adult children are in similar circumstances.  Even if they chose voluntarily, I still root for them.

Swamp -

You should tell that kid to sue so that he gets fairly compensated!

Perhaps the "poor boys" comment was a little low.  Baseball is still a "child's game" being played by adults.  Not sure you can really argue that.  Children cannot perform open heart surgery, but they can hit, catch & throw baseballs!  Some of these guys have figured out how to make millions doing it!  While some roll the dice and fail.

Rich

Paying to play in high school, travel, and college (where you simultaneously have to study for exams, and go to class) is a joy, and getting paid to play in MILB is cruel?

Put down the protest signs and the crack pipe.

Minor league ball harsh..Give me a break. This guy is whacked.

I guess some of this could involve how everyone defines "willingly."

Not everyone gets on a Milb team.  You either get drafted or signed as a free agent...in effect, MLB is seeking you out, they are seeking your talent and expertise because the talent and skills can and  are viewed as unique and of the type which can develop and make someone a lot of money at some point in the future, i.e. the owner of the team.

Not only that, MLB requires the player to sign a very unique contract. It binds the player for 6 full championship seasons, so long as he wants to play.  It does not bind the team for those same 6 seasons. As we know, players get released on a moments notice, they get traded, on a moments notice, they can finish a game at midnight and be at an airport at 6am leaving behind who knows what, including possible financial issues with roommates and the like.  The other aspect is the teams band together so that every player at the same level of Milb, on every team for every franchise is paid the same, but unlike a union, this isn't negotiated, this is "colluded" by MLB and imposed.  Is there any business like that in our Country?

What type of "voluntary/willingly" is that contract? 

It is a very short conversation and one sided to try and negotiate with the "leverage" of moving to some other team.  There is none. In the real legal world, contracts of that type are often voided because they are so one sided as to be oppressive, which they probably could be here exempt for the exemption of MLB from the anti-trust laws which governs most every other multi-billion dollar business.

This of course leaves out the fact that most every Milb Stadium is funded by taxpayers with the clubs owned by multi-millionaires who make more and more money every year based on the skills and talents of the players on the field who they don't pay at all(nothing) but who's pay is colluded and set by MLB, no matter which team you play for.

MILB players make hundreds of millions of dollars for Milb team investors and MLB owners but are an "invited group" working under one "colluded and uniform contract," are bound for 6 years with nothing reciprocal for the team, coupled with a wage scale also colluded and imposed.

Voluntary? Willingly? 

The time on the field they love and few would ever make another choice. Of course one did a few years back and ended up with about $300,000 of signing bonus.  When the team could not go after him, it changed the uniform MILB contract to require the player to repay the bonus(pro-rated) if the players does not play 6 full seasons and the choice was the players.  

Yes I can.

The first game under codified rules was played by men.  It is a man's game that has been picked up by kids and played under modified rules because they can't play the real version.

The poor boys comment was definitely low.

And FWIW, it is NOT a child's game.

I think that is where the problem lies, too many kids going to play and then realize this is big business and nothing what they signed up for. A player signs a contract with the organization that binds them to 6 years, regardless of where he plays. He can retire at any time he wishes.  Most don't, they will get released first.

I have a friend whose son signed as a catcher out of HS for 100k. He bought a condo, paid cash with the money, he couldn't hit, so they converted him to a pitcher. By the time he reached AA he needed TJS, the team told him that they would not pay for his surgery, her was forced to retire.

It's situation like this that really bug me, other than that, I strongly suggest that each and every player that will not have a pretty fair signing bonus, not gone to college and gotten a degree, know and understand exactly how it works.

My son has been in the game since 2007.  He has never lived in squalor and never starved.  The further you go up the better things become. He told me that he would never take any of those years back, even the ones where he was on the DL.  He has sacrificed a lot to play the game, his personal life and still no diploma. He has made some nice bucks and has put some away for his future, he will never get rich playing this game, but he has a lot more than most of his friends at his age, and that doesn't always mean lots of $$ in the bank.  

The problem lies within the system when a team does not move a player forward, but that isn't like it used to be. If a player cannot get passed low A ball in a season or two than he never belonged there in the first place.  They have to understand how the system works and how being placed on the 40 man works and why and the 5 year draft rule. I am shocked that players and their families have no clue about this, and even no clue the differences between low A, AA or AAA.

I like Dirk and I understand why he wrote what he did, despite making some money, it really is a tough business unlike any other, mostly because until you get to free agency, you have no choice but to do what you are told to do.

And as someone has said, you really can't understand any of it unless you or your son has played.

infielddad,

Nice post!

Articles like this one are great material to make sure the "non phenom" takes school seriously and to prepare for the future. The love of the game is a wonderful thing, playing for the dream of big $$ is a dangerous one at best. 

When the "love" calls then its best to make sure everything is known and expectations not too great  IMO

Expectations should be realistic, but that never means that a lower pick will never make it to the show, because there are many that do, and I think the ones who understand that are the ones who eventually come out ahead.

84% of American MLBers come from the first ten rounds of the draft. Another 10% come from rounds 11-20. Only 6% come from rounds 21+.

Great read and great discussion. It is a lif-changing, life dream to play professional baseball and get paid, but there should be a better balance between being treated like a dog vs. being treated like a king. Of course, if a player does not want to live like a dog, there are oodles of others chasing the dream that will. Why doesn't the players union push for better minor league pay and benefits?

If the players want better pay and working conditions are supposedly that bad, then they need to step up to the plate and mobilize and form a union? Otherwise, they  got nothing to gripe about and will depend on the employer to take care of you. Good luck with that. 

Ballplayers choose this life and know what they're getting into. They want to improve it, then step up and become represented.

Zomby - 

There is a system in place for them to receive higher pay.  All they have to do is be good enough to make it to the MLB.  

League minimum in 2014 is $500,000.

And that is why I don't feel bad.  Grown men choosing to take a chance at a minimum 1/2 million!  

With great risk comes great reward.

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

PIS, while I don't agree with you, I also think you are trying to simplify what is not simple.

"All you have to do is be good enough to make it to MLB." Are you sure that is all it takes?  One of the son's of a long time poster is currently in  in AAA.  He has been told by a number of folks, including his own AAA manager that he has nothing to prove in AAA and belongs on a MLB roster.  But he isn't and it isn't because he is not good enough.  Among many issues, it is the restrictive 6 year contract and if you want to play, you play and are owned by that one team, part of a monopoly provided with an anti-trust exemption to artificially control the talent in Milb baseball and artificially suppress wages and competition.

I get your point but the reason why this system is in place is because of the players union. If there was no union, you'd have no half-million dollar minimum wage scale. You can take that to the bank.  It is very odd that in baseball, only the mlb players are represented considering professional baseball includes the majors and all minor league levels. Logic would dictate all levels of pro ball would be represented with sliding scale pay across the board while minor leaguers get some of the benefits their mlb brothers bargained for.

Point is if in the players want better pay and benefits, then they need to mobilize. If its not that big a deal, then keep things as they are.

The real problem is the draft and binding contracts.  If the MiLB players could choose their MLB employer and not be tied to a team for 6 years, MLB teams would have to provide more reasonable working conditions in order to attract and RETAIN the best players.  Currently all they have to do is "draft" a player and wait for him to agree to their terms in most cases, especially for college players that have used up their eligibility. 

If accounting, engineering or law grads had no choice on where they went to work for the next 6 years they would be in the same situation as MiLB players.

The reality is that the teams have colluded via the draft and binding contracts to keep costs low, how and why they are allowed to do this is beyond me.  Force them to bid for a players services and the conditions will improve.  Its very easy to say its fair because the players are looking for a big payday, but that's not any different from an accounting, engineering or law grad, however their employers must make some reasonable efforts to retain their services, whereas the MLB club doesn't even have to feed them or pay them at spring training etc.

It's a system that minor leaguers just don't fight too hard against and there's a reason for that. They'd have to fight against the MLB Player's Union and they all expect to one day be a part of the big league pie.

I don't really want to get political, but it's a lot like the estate tax. So many Americans are agianst it when it doesn't effect them. Why? because in America, we all expect that by hard work and following the American dream, we will one day be rich ourselves and don't want to challenge a system that rewards us when we are rich. In truth, how many Americans will die with an estate large enough to trigger an estate tax? A VERY small percent. However, we expect that it will effect us.

Similarly, Minor leaguers EXPECT to one day be in the show and they don't want to mess with a system that will reward them so greatly when, not if, they finally get there. They don't want to be brought down with the reality that few of them will ever reap the benefits of MLBPU negotiations. Honestly, though, if they did take their heads out of the clouds, few would even try.

The only part I don't believe is fair about minor league pay is not having enough money to eat properly as a professional athlete. If organizations expect players to train to become major leaguers they need to be providing appropriate nutrition or the finances for it.

I would support a very different view.  The vast majority of players who get drafted have very little idea how MILB operates outside of what they and we can all see occurs on the field. Many agents are equally "naive." 

For a drafted player who signs and gets to an orientation at the ST headquarters, at the very first meeting they will spend upwards of one hour signing paperwork. If they get directly assigned to a team, the process occurs there and is even less informational.

If one of these players has any idea what they are signing, I would be surprised. Very good lawyers probably would have trouble with the breadth and depth of the documents these players are signing, almost in haste, to get to the baseball stuff.

The ways Milb players get to the position the article by Hayhurst retrospectively creates is by living it. The way folks like this poster learned is by having a son in Milb, reading his contract and working with many, including experienced folks on this site, to understand what all of this meant and how to work within it.  Finally, for better or worse, I had a son who sustained a career ending.  He had some teammates who also did.  Through that process I learned so much. Let's leave it that more than a a few  players, who are employees of a multi-billion dollar industry,might not receive either the information or benefits which the various laws  anticipate.

Even with all of that, it is a learning experience. One former poster on this site had a very talented son. After being released, he was picked up by a second organization. When he showed up at ST, he saw they were 20 deep at his position.  The player quickly realized he had no chance.  Before ST ended, he asked for his release, after actually getting some agreements with the minor league folks that he did not have a future with that organization.  He learned a very hard lesson. They would not release him. His only option was to retire. If he wanted to be a Milb player at any time, they would use the 6 year contract to bind him to that organization, even though he would never play.

He retired.

While a union might be the right way, players really don't find out they need one until it is too far along or too late. That is why the Hayhurst article is so helpful. It gets out a message to a broader audience just as this board has done for a few like myself.

I will always share my son's belief that one of the reasons MiLB life is intentionally structured to resemble an obstacle course (albeit a multi-year one) is that front offices don't like to release players. Instead, they'd much prefer that players make the choice to quit, instead.

Meanwhile, the MLB Players' Association can never be expected to take up the plight of minor league players. It's a zero-sum game, and every dollar they might win for minor league players is a dollar lost that could have gone to benefit major leaguers.

I am not sure where the notion came about that ML teams do not feed their players, especially in spring training?  Can anyone tell me who doesn't?

Here is how it works, no one gets paid in spring training, but the stipends vary greatly from ML to MIL.  All teams do things differently.  Keep in mind although you have no say in who drafts you so you do not have to sign, the large market team who drafts you may treat you better than the smaller market team. DK was lucky, the teams he played for owned some of their affiliates, and that means more money to spend on their players.

In one organization son lived at the Doubletree for a month and was given 2 meals a day and then given a per diem stipend for dinner.   One season he lived out of the hotel and he was given a larger stipend for living expenses, not much but he did have to pay more out of his pocket, that is the choice that one has. 

In the Tiger organization they actually have a campus on at the stadium and it was very nice. Son lived in the dorm, and had access to the cafeteria for 3 meals a day.  The ML guys were housed in a hotel off of campus and ate in separate cafeteria.  All teams do things differently but no one is NOT fed.

I say that overall son was treated pretty fairly.  They don't get paid much under contract but everything they ever needed they got, you do have to pay for clubhouse dues but son liked the fact that for 8-15 dollars a day (depends on the level) he got two meals a day, pregame and after game.  Travel days they get 25 per diem for meals but usually still eat in the clubhouse.  In every town there is an all you can eat buffet somewhere, so they manage.

Do they make a lot of money per month, no way, but its doable for most.

If its about the money, go to college.  Be prepared for when the time comes that you will no longer be in the game. People write to me all of the time asking if they should sign or go to college, this is a personal decision, but understand that you will never get paid much until you get on the 40 man roster or become a free agent.

Again it is a good article but its also outdated.  Its really not as bad as it is made out to be.

JMO

infielddad,

While I agree with much of your last post,  I don't get the part of the player being bound to his six year contract.   After his first release the player became a FA and teams do not sign milb FA for long periods of time, now if he received a signing bonus from them I understand but am I not getting something?

The real interesting part is that you come across many players who feel (or their parents) that they got screwed along the way. Even when you make the 40, the 25.  All seems like everything is ok, this is a big business and you have to perform everyday to keep your job, stay healthy once you are lucky to get to free agency, you are your own person.  That's the only time you get to make your own decisions.

Affiliated ball is rigged in favor of the owners and MLB. That fact has been well known for along time, and will not change. Minor leaguers don't make much money and are at the team's mercy. I get that and so should everybody with a contract shoved under their nose, but nobody has a gun to their heads,either.

North Korean prison camp inmates can complain about getting a bad deal. Nobody wants to hear that from some guy that hit the genetic lottery and didn't like how his stint in pro ball ended, which is every player.

Hopefully, everybody who turns pro this summer understands fully MLB holds all the cards and they will be very likely never make a 40 or 25 man, either because of injury, insufficient talent level, being blocked (same thing), bad coaching, idiotic management or some other factor of which they absolutely no control.

All you can do as a player is work hard, take care of your business and hope you somehow beat the long shot odds.

I know what goes on at spring training. I even got to eat with the players one time. It was a good meal. But from the article and what kids I know playing have said the pay and the per diem does not allow for eating well during the season. Those cheap, all you can eat buffets are crap. They may fill your stomach. But they're not nutritious. There's a big difference between eating and eating well. A player could easily fill up on $4 worth of crap from the dollar store. But how good is it for the player in the long run?