MLB To Require Housing For Minor Leaguers

[jjgott]

Felt this was big enough news to get bumped to the Major League forum. Could have huge ramifications about the development of prospects. This is probably MLB getting ahead of an issue before the CBA expires but it's about time nonetheless.

 

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/32419545/major-league-baseball-require-teams-provide-housing-minor-league-players-starting-2022-sources-say

 

"Amid mounting pressure from players and advocacy groups, Major League Baseball said on Sunday it will require teams to provide housing for minor league players starting in 2022.

 

While MLB has yet to outline its plan formally, six team officials told ESPN they are starting to prepare to help house players across each of their four minor league affiliates. In mid-September, owners from the league's 30 teams agreed unanimously to a plan that would provide housing for certain minor league players, the league said in a statement. Whether they will offer stipends that fully cover housing or provide the lodging itself has yet to be decided, sources said."

[DuWayne Steurer]

I hesitate to say "I applaud the owners for this", but it's a good move none the less. This last season there was a lot of negative press on baseball for the living conditions and "meals" that minor leaguers were being prepared, and this move just seemed like something that had to happen. I guess if nothing else, good move to just not drag their heels and make it happen quickly, and not make a big thing of taking 2-3-4 years figuring out the logistics of it.

[nate82]

CBA doesn't really cover the minors and I doubt the MLBPA really cares about the minor league players well at least not enough unless it was hurting their portion of the CBA.

[young guns]

I will hold off on giving kudos till we are sure either the stipends are sufficient or the provided lodgings aren't roach infested...holes. It feels like the bare minimum they could do, at least living situation wise, so it doesn't really feel an "applaud the owners" type situation for me either.

[folly412]

Good. I hope it's provided rather than a stipend as well. Have no idea how some of the players manage, especially if they get sent to two or three affiliates within a short timeframe. Read a couple stories of players spending all their free time searching for housing.

 

Imagine you're Sal Frelick and spent a few weeks in Carolina, then immediately sent to Appleton for a month. What can he do but hope there's a place on AirBnB that happens to be available since he needs furniture, happens to be close enough to the stadium, and can be rented for a month-ish? That's stressful enough. Now imagine the majority of players who aren't a couple months off a first round signing bonus and have to make cost the top consideration.

 

Teams should have options here. Whether they just go to a few local apartment complexes, or put some assets on the balance sheet. The Mudcats had a big advertisement in the outfield this year about a local development going up right down the road. Even with the inflated prices, for the cost of one year of a veteran bullpen arm they could probably buy 5 houses that would have enough space for pretty much everyone and would probably continue to appreciate in value.

[MadThinker88]

CBA doesn't really cover the minors and I doubt the MLBPA really cares about the minor league players well at least not enough unless it was hurting their portion of the CBA.

 

Just to be clear: no union negotiating a new CBA is worrying about individuals that are not members.

They are focused on those people that are members of the bargaining unit and those that have retired from the unit (in that order)...

 

I have seen too many 2 tier wages setups where existing members get an hourly wage rate multiple dollars higher then a new worker doing the exact same job right to the existing member..

[madbad2000]

This is way overdue. I knew quite a few people who would house players in Beloit for free. I also knew a bunch who would share an apartment to cut down on costs, but you're talking like 6+ in a 2 bedroom apartment. I can't confirm, but I'm pretty sure the team had a deal worked out with the complex knowing it's short term and players often come and go at a moments notice.

[MrTPlush]

To me the most logical scenario is approaching hotels that are long term intended. This is exactly what the Brewers were going to do had they moved spring training to Gilbert. There was going to be an on site hotel that would have partially housed players. They have small kitchens and are furnished, problem solved. I can't imagine there are many teams that aren't in or near a notable city to already have these types of hotels in place already. Worst case you can likely peak the interest of a developer to create one near you. The team can contractually agree to buy out so many rooms for the players. Players can freely leave the team, by release/promotion/demotion, and not have to be concerned with being locked in any kind of housing contract. Hotel will love the easy/known cash flow and the MLB team gets a simple/economical way to house the players that doesn't require major investment by them.

[Roderick]

Imagine you're Sal Frelick and spent a few weeks in Carolina, then immediately sent to Appleton for a month. What can he do but hope there's a place on AirBnB that happens to be available since he needs furniture, happens to be close enough to the stadium, and can be rented for a month-ish?

 

I know someone that had an agreement to house a Wisconsin Rapids Rafter baseball player many summers. I don't see any reason why the lower minors aren't the same and have people ready to house players if need be.

[Thurston Fluff]

This is far enough back that the Timber Rattlers were still the Foxes but they had agreements with people to put up players in homes. Don't know if that was a Seattle thing or if it changed when they became the T-Rats but I always just assumed the league helped find places to stay. Guess not. Seems like a no brainer to help players get settled in so they can concentrate of baseball.

[TURBO]

The T-Rats still did this as of a few years ago, not sure if they still do or not...

[nate82]

To me the most logical scenario is approaching hotels that are long term intended. This is exactly what the Brewers were going to do had they moved spring training to Gilbert. There was going to be an on site hotel that would have partially housed players. They have small kitchens and are furnished, problem solved. I can't imagine there are many teams that aren't in or near a notable city to already have these types of hotels in place already. Worst case you can likely peak the interest of a developer to create one near you. The team can contractually agree to buy out so many rooms for the players. Players can freely leave the team, by release/promotion/demotion, and not have to be concerned with being locked in any kind of housing contract. Hotel will love the easy/known cash flow and the MLB team gets a simple/economical way to house the players that doesn't require major investment by them.

 

The Royals do this with their rookie league. Most of their players are at a hotel near the spring training facilities. Though the Royals do not let their players eat at the hotel they are provided meals.

[Fear The Chorizo]

This is all well and good...but MLB organizations for the most part actually don't own minor league teams. Sure, their drafted players are under various contracts, but those contracts aren't really tied at all to various travel/per diem expenses during a minor league season. For the vast majority of instances, major league organizations are responsible for salaries of uniformed personnel, but not for travel/operational expenses. In my opinion a larger part of the costs for of player housing and per diem should rest on the shoulders of the minor league club ownership and not the MLB organization they are affiliated with. Do MLB teams receive a percentage of the minor league ticket revenue in return? That's an honest question, because if they don't, what exactly are the minor league clubs spending that income on?

 

More than half of the minor league roster spots are taken up by guys who never signed a contract with a big signing bonus - but this problem isn't just a MLB issue...to me more scrutiny of the minor league teams these guys are playing for and not just the MLB club they might wind up playing for someday if they advance through 2,3,4, heck 6 more minor league levels.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Imagine you're Sal Frelick and spent a few weeks in Carolina, then immediately sent to Appleton for a month. What can he do but hope there's a place on AirBnB that happens to be available since he needs furniture, happens to be close enough to the stadium, and can be rented for a month-ish?

 

I know someone that had an agreement to house a Wisconsin Rapids Rafter baseball player many summers. I don't see any reason why the lower minors aren't the same and have people ready to house players if need be.

 

Something tells me this isn't being done for the Sal Frelicks of the world....maybe he could use some of his $4M signing bonus to help cover some lease bills?

 

Also, I do think alot of minor league clubs have agreements in place with local apartment/condo/rental outfits to help house players during the season because of how fluid rosters can be. Whether or not rent for those places should be paid by players on peanut contracts or folded into a housing benefit provided by the minor league team/MLB organization responsible for them on that team is a different discussion. You don't really hear too many stories of guys getting called up to the next level and having a tremendous amount of difficulty finding a place to sleep.

[Thurston Fluff]

This is all well and good...but MLB organizations for the most part actually don't own minor league teams. Sure, their drafted players are under various contracts, but those contracts aren't really tied at all to various travel/per diem expenses during a minor league season. For the vast majority of instances, major league organizations are responsible for salaries of uniformed personnel, but not for travel/operational expenses. In my opinion a larger part of the costs for of player housing and per diem should rest on the shoulders of the minor league club ownership and not the MLB organization they are affiliated with. Do MLB teams receive a percentage of the minor league ticket revenue in return? That's an honest question, because if they don't, what exactly are the minor league clubs spending that income on?

 

More than half of the minor league roster spots are taken up by guys who never signed a contract with a big signing bonus - but this problem isn't just a MLB issue...to me more scrutiny of the minor league teams these guys are playing for and not just the MLB club they might wind up playing for someday if they advance through 2,3,4, heck 6 more minor league levels.

 

The money is being spent on improvements to the stadiums- often times mandated by the parent club, paying employees, promotions and such. Very few make a fortune on it. The players are MLB property and MLB gets to decide who plays where and for how long. The minor league affiliate does not get to play fan favorites to draw more people in nor do they get to choose who plays for them or for how long which directly effects their revenue. Given how limited their input to the on field product is I'm not sure why they should be responsible for their care. I'm sure there's some amount of help affiliates provide in finding suitable housing but ultimately it's the people who employ the players to help said employees.

[JosephC]

For as business smart as MLB owners must truly be, it surprises me how unsavvy they are on this issue.

 

As people who remember the names Mike Williams and Maurice Clarett know, the courts have held up the NFL's clear age discrimination practices regarding not being eligible until 3 years past high school.

 

I can't understand why MLB owners wouldn't just pivot to this money-making/PR strategy and just pawn off player development on someone else.

 

Save all sorts of money by not having to fund all those minor league organizations. If any mistreatment of non-major league players happen, then the media can just go after the NCAA/independent leagues because MLB has nothing to do with that anymore. Make those guys the bad guys. Win/win for MLB.

[TURBO]

You can't convince me that Minor League Baseball doesn't make money...

 

Watching the T-Rats year after year, and the $ that fans spend there, there is not a chance they lose money, in fact, I bet they make a ton!

 

If the minors were losing money hand over fist, then yes, I could see MLB dropping it all together, but that just can't be the case in most instances.

 

Are there markets that draw more people and make more money than others? Sure, just like MLB...

[Thurston Fluff]

The T-rats got sold last season because they couldn't afford to operate anymore. Granted it was due to a missed season but if they were making a ton of money they would have managed. After all who sells a lucrative operation because of one down year?

[TURBO]

The T-rats got sold last season because they couldn't afford to operate anymore. Granted it was due to a missed season but if they were making a ton of money they would have managed. After all who sells a lucrative operation because of one down year?

 

I can only imagine how much money they lost in the pandemic 2020 season, I wouldn't be surprised if that didn't do them in, however, if it isn't a moneymaker, and they sold, who would buy it if they knew they would lose money.

 

There is a ton of money to be made there, which is why they found buyers so quickly.

 

Again, you can't convince me that they lose money in a normal season.

[MrTPlush]

You really think MLB owners would be paying expenses for MiLB teams if the MiLB teams were swimming in cash? Umm, no.

[damuelle]

I can’t help but be a cynic on this one, as I assume the clubs are willing to pay for accommodation in exchange for slicing domestic MILB rosters from 180 this year to 150 next year (assumed). But let’s see how it plays out.

[Roderick]

The T-rats got sold last season because they couldn't afford to operate anymore. Granted it was due to a missed season but if they were making a ton of money they would have managed. After all who sells a lucrative operation because of one down year?

 

Looks like the Appleton Baseball Club, Inc got $559,000 in federal PPP "loan" (which really meant you usually didn't have to pay back).

[Thurston Fluff]

The T-rats got sold last season because they couldn't afford to operate anymore. Granted it was due to a missed season but if they were making a ton of money they would have managed. After all who sells a lucrative operation because of one down year?

 

Looks like the Appleton Baseball Club, Inc got $559,000 in federal PPP "loan" (which really meant you usually didn't have to pay back).

 

They have 66 home games a season. If they filled the stadium for every home game 3.894 million gross. While that sounds like a lot they never sell out all 66 games. Given the overhead of running a stadium that leaves very little meat on the bone for the ownership group.

[sveumrules]

I'd imagine a small handful of the more popular & better run Minor League franchises make a nice little profit every year, but I believe for the overwhelming majority it's more of a labor of love where breaking somewhere close to even financially is considered a "good" season.

[jerichoholicninja]

The T-rats got sold last season because they couldn't afford to operate anymore. Granted it was due to a missed season but if they were making a ton of money they would have managed. After all who sells a lucrative operation because of one down year?

 

Looks like the Appleton Baseball Club, Inc got $559,000 in federal PPP "loan" (which really meant you usually didn't have to pay back).

 

They have 66 home games a season. If they filled the stadium for every home game 3.894 million gross. While that sounds like a lot they never sell out all 66 games. Given the overhead of running a stadium that leaves very little meat on the bone for the ownership group.

 

My wife and I went to an April Trats game a few years ago. It was a doubleheader because the day before was snowed out. I counted 15 people in the stands when we were there. Attendance is nice June-August but they have to be taking a major loss in April and May.