MiLB Watch will be a recurring feature on HOTF, running short interviews and stories, as well as servivng as a round-up of five current stoies of interest. While HOTF was once a MiLB-only platform, the re-launch has expanded the focus. MiLB will continue to be a leading issue covered here. I hope MiLB Watch is informative and entertaining to baseball fans.~ Jessica Quiroli, Editor/Founder HOTF
Garrett Broshius Continues His Longtime Fight To Get A Fair Wage For Minor Leaguers
Broshius has been minor league players biggest champion for many years. He's a former player, so he knows exactly what that life is like. But when he became a lawyer, he made minor league pay a focal point in his legal career. His fight is personal. And in light of recent positive developments, he's in it for the long haul. Here's what he had to say over the weekend.
HOTF: When you began this work so many years ago, did you view this as a "political" issue? One that needed attention as a working class issue, not just in the realm of baseball?
GB: When I was still playing many years ago, I didn’t view it as a political issue—just an issue of basic fairness. We spent all these hours working at the field, doing whatever we were told, and yet some of my teammates could barely afford to eat. It never seemed right. Why in Double-A, while just two steps from the big leagues, were players being paid $7,500 for an entire year of work?
As the years went by, though, I did start to see it through the lens of a larger trend in our society. We’re in a new Gilded Age, with disparities in wealth reaching record levels, and with the divide between haves and have nots growing every day. Baseball is a microcosm of that trend. Since MLB players achieved free agency in 1976, MLB salaries have risen by over 3000%. MLB revenue growth has grown even more quickly. And yet minor league salaries have hardly budged over that time. That’s not to say that minor league players should be compensated like major league players—of course they shouldn’t be. But is minimum wage too much to ask for? Is $15,000 for an entire year of work too much? Indeed, the average minor leaguer has far less purchasing power today than in 1976. The batboy often makes more per hour than the minor league players.
And now MLB’s proposal to shutter 42 minor league teams has delivered it fully into the political arena. I only hope that politicians realize that not only do we need to protect these teams, but we also need to protect these players and ensure that they make above-poverty-level wages. We can do better, and we must do better if we want our national pastime to thrive in future generations.
HOTF: During the long process, what conversations have stood out to you with players you've talked to or who are in the lawsuit. I'm in no way asking for names. Just things that have impacted you or reminded you why this is so important.
The magnitude of the problem is really astounding because it’s system-wide. With MLB enjoying an antitrust exemption that allows the MLB teams to collude on minor league salaries, and with no minor league union to push back against these collusive efforts, salaries have been suppressed far below the market value. The result is across-the-board hardships. Players cramming six guys into two-bedroom apartments, sleeping on air mattresses. A player who couldn’t afford a plane ticket for his young son to come out and see him. A player who would skip meals to save money; the first thing he would eat would be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at the field. Those are the guys we’re trying to help out.
HOTF: The proposal to eliminate 42 MiLB teams has stunned & frustrated many people. How will players, particularly new draftees, suffer without more opportunities to play? Do you believe MLB will execute the plan?
Fewer teams means fewer minor league teams, which means fewer minor league players. There are so many examples of players drafted beyond the 20th round making it to the big leagues. So I hope it doesn’t come to fruition. Obviously I would love to see higher minor league salaries—that’s what we’re fighting for. I’d also love to see some playing surfaces bettered and some clubhouses upgraded. And some of the leagues are, without a doubt, too spread out and it causes travel headaches (and backaches). Those are real problems that MLB is complaining about. But I hope the folks negotiating the PBA can address those problems without cutting teams. There’s a lot of time left before the current PBA expires, so I’m cautiously optimistic.
HOTF: Finally, what's the next step in the lawsuit? How much progress are you making?
We won our appeal in the Ninth Circuit in August, which allows the case to remain a class action. MLB has indicated that it intends to ask the Supreme Court to take the case, which is what is currently preventing us from getting back to the trial court. We’re doing some things to try to get back to the trial court as quickly as possible because we’re ready to get moving again. And there are a lot of minor leaguers going to spring training soon—where they’ll work without pay for an entire month—who are anxious to see us get moving again. So we’ve already completed a lot of the work and are making progress, but we have a lot more to do.