Per Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the New York Mets are expected to join two-thirds of Major League Baseball — as of Tuesday evening — in paying their non-playing team personnel through the end of May, while the world gathers their bearings as the COVID-19 global pandemic continues on.
As expected, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred suspended Uniform Employee Contracts on Tuesday, allowing teams to furlough, lay-off, and reduce the pay of non-player personnel. The existence of a national emergency allows this provision to be enacted.
Jeff Passan of ESPN reported early Tuesday morning that MLB “fully anticipates” a season to be played in 2020 and that more than half of the teams had already pledged to pay their employees through May.
The San Diego Padres and Detroit Tigers announced on Tuesday they’d pay their employees through the end of the season. Per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Tigers chairman and COO Chris Illich took a refreshing stance regarding the ongoing crisis and its fallout.
“The Detroit Tigers have no plans for lay-offs or furloughs of its employees, including those subject to a Uniformed Employee Contract. We are a family company with strong values around our employees, our fans and our community,” Illich said. “Of course, this is an evolving situation that we’re confronting head-on and we’ll keep our employees updated if things change. But we are taking a longer-term view.”
We’ll keep you posted with updates as they become available.
