Advocates for Minor Leaguers chief executive Harry Marino issued a statement in response to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s 17-page letter defending the sport’s antitrust exemption.
In the letter, filed Friday and obtained by Sports Illustrated, Manfred challenged the US Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation into the exception in a July 18 letter, asking for an explanation of its impact on leagues and player salaries. Manfred argued that the 100-year-old exemption benefited smaller leagues and the sport as a whole.
“We respectfully point out that the opposite is true — exemption from baseball’s antitrust rules has greatly improved the lives of minor league players, including their conditions of employment, and has enabled minor league affiliate operators to pursue professional baseball in to specific communities that otherwise could not economically support a professional baseball team,” Manfred stated in the opening paragraph.
The letter also provides a breakdown of the claims made by Advocates for Minor Leaguers in its response to the Senate committee earlier this month, which found that most “minor league players live below the federal poverty line” and are unable to support their improve situation because of liberation. The league claimed that advocates urging the need for congressional action to “lift players out of poverty” are “inaccurate” and ignore the “good career paths of millions of young non-baseball Americans trying to get into penetrate highly competitive areas.”
Manfred wrote: “Proponents err when they claim that all minor league players would receive higher compensation and better benefits if compensation were set based on ‘free market principles’ based on the number of players currently already in existence.” get the biggest signing bonuses – possibly better. But the much larger number of non-potential players would likely fare worse.”
Shortly after the League’s response, Marino addressed the letter, citing an interesting contrast in Manfred’s tone on the matter.
“When it comes to the impact of baseball’s antitrust exemption on minor league players and fans, Major League Baseball fails to get its story straight,” Marino wrote, before citing Manfred’s comments during the All-Star break in which he said , he “can’t think of a place where the exception really makes sense, other than franchise relocation.”
After highlighting Manfred’s remarks on the merits of the exception, Marino offered a rebuttal and promised Advocates for Minor Leaguers would respond “substantially” in the coming days after a thorough scrutiny.
“Simply put, both statements cannot be true,” he continued. “Given that MLB continues to pay poverty-level wages to most minor league players and recently eliminated 40 minor league teams, the positions they have held today are surprising — to say the least. We intend to thoroughly investigate the many allegations contained in today’s 17-page letter and will respond fully in the coming days.”
Marino and Advocates for Minor Leaguers have been at the forefront of the push for change since receiving a similar request from the Senate committee led by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), asking for more information on how the Minor antitrust exemption will work Leagues exploits. and their impact on their contracts and other working conditions.
The antitrust exemption was introduced in 1922 following the Supreme Court ruling in the Federal Baseball Club v. National League case and has come under fire in recent months for its influence on the minor leagues. On July 19, a day after the Senate committee sent out its letter, Manfred dismissed the idea that minor league players were not being adequately compensated. Ironically, the comments followed MLB’s agreement to pay $185 million to settle a federal class-action lawsuit filed by smaller leagues, with more than $120 million going directly to eligible players teams previously accused of violating minimum wage and overtime laws.
“Look, I sort of dismiss the premise of the question that minor-league players aren’t being paid a living wage,” he said. “I think we’ve made real strides in the last three years in terms of paying minor league players – even putting aside the signing bonuses that many of them have already received. They received accommodation, which is obviously another form of compensation. So, you know, I’m just downvoting the question. I don’t know what else to say.”
Minor league advocates called Manfred’s assessment “callous and wrong” in a statement, noting that most players have part-time jobs because their “annual salaries aren’t enough to make ends meet.” However, despite MLB’s clear denial of the issues at hand, Marino spoke optimistically about the possibility of potential legislation against the exception later that same day.
“This isn’t just a politician or even a political party doing something like some sort of tribune or saying they’re going to use this for leverage or publicity,” he said. “I think honestly it’s the context in terms of awareness of the treatment of minor league players… It’s been leaking out for a while but over the last year it’s really come to the fore.”
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