Due to the worldwide outbreak of COVID-19, all major and minor league baseball operations have been suspended indefinitely. When it comes to the world of sports, few athletes are being more affected by this situation than minor league ballplayers.
These young men are in a very tough situation as they try to make ends meet during this time of crisis. Minor league players are not paid a significant amount of money as is, but if the games aren’t being played, they aren’t paid at all.
In this uncertain time, few places are actually hiring and even less will hire a player that might have to leave at the drop of a hat to go back to their professional baseball career. Also because these players are still technically employed, they can’t apply for unemployment benefits to get by over the next few months.
Many have called for Major League Baseball teams to step up and continue to pay these players. To the New York Mets credit, they are doing just that.
According to Kyle Glaser of Baseball America, the Mets and the Tampa Bay Rays are both continuing to pay their minor league players the stipends and allowances that they usually receive throughout spring training.
Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported that for the Rays, those stipends amount to $400 a week and would usually be paid through April in a normal spring training.
Assuming the Mets pay a similar stipend to their minor league players, this should money should go a long way to helping keep New York’s farmhands afloat over the next few months without baseball.
