According to reports the Mets, Dodgers, Marlins, Pirates, Rays, Brewers and Cardinals are paying their non-40-man roster minor leaguers $400 per week through June. And the Dodgers have help since lefty starter David Price is giving each non-40-man minor leaguer in the system $1,000.
As far as non-uniform personnel (front office, scouts, staff members, etc.), the Yankees recently told them they were going to pay them through June 15. NJ.com reported the news on May 26. In April the Yankees said they would look at the situation at the end of May.
So it goes. What's amazing in this golden, hedge-fund, money-ball era is that a player - the oft-maligned David Price - turns out to be the hero who saves his teammates. Seriously... do the Dodgers not have money? Ah, but I digress...For years, the de facto salary cap - (alias the luxury tax) - has supplied the excuse for Food Stamps Hal Steinbrenner to refrain from using his billionaire's endowment to sign free agents. In their next labor agreement, MLB players have vowed to blow up the luxury tax system, but it might just be the 2020 season that goes up in flames, like a police precinct. Who knows what kind of financial structure will emerge in 2021? Not me.
Regardless of what happens, you'd think the Yankees would have a grand opportunity to fortify their system with the minor league talent being jettisoned by other franchises. This won't mean adding a star. But every year, a few career minor leaguers become valuable Yankees. In fact, Brian Cashman's greatest talent has been in finding scrap heap additions - Luke Voit, Ronald Torreyes, Mike Tauchman, Gio Urshela, Cameron Maybin, Mike Ford - and there might just be a few more out there looking for a home.
Seems to me that this would be a great time for the Yankees to pay their people, to keep players and families intact, and to be a good employer. Four hundred dollars a week cannot mean much to Hal. It sure could make a difference to the next Mike Tauchman, and I believe it would pay off in spades. There are times to be smart. There are times to be righteous. This is a time when Hal will be measured for the person that he is. This is a time for him to rise.
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I don't think Hal has any real concern about the lives of his minor league players. Similarly, neither he nor any other member of his Bloated Front Office has ever shown anything but contempt to the Yankee fans who made his family rich and provided his staff with very lucrative careers.
We are seeing the end of the Minor Leagues as we know it. A lot of small towns are going to suffer economically from this while the "Plantation Owners" will save millions. Sad.
Carl,
Duque is 100% correct. This is an opportunity to cherry pick. Obviously this situation sucks all around (and I do mean ALL AROUND.) That said, there will be some talent out there that will become available.
He's not saying Hal cares. He's saying Hal is a businessman who should take advantage of market conditions.
In the mean time - we're all gonna die.
Just wanted to end on an up note. :)
Doug K.
I hear you Doug...
And I agree with Duque for the most part (I usually do but I'll always remember Ed Koch's statement: "If you agree with me 90% of the time, you're a genius. If you agree with me 100% of the time, seek psychiatric help")! It might be an opportunity to add talent, yes. But I'm sure there will be some sort of structure or restriction put on acquiring the jettisoned MiLB players.
In any event, I wasn't really disputing Duque's statement about Hal. I was just giving my opinion....how I feel about Hal's outlook concerning people. And that is he has no concern about people.
:)
Doug K.
When the $600 unemployment bonus beats a $400 salary... who wouldn’t want to get laid off? Yankees rather pay $400 than let a minor leaguer get $200 more.
Who knew David Price could be a mensch? This changes my whole fucking zeitgeist.
I think Carl is right, and I would go further and say that in the whole history of NYC baseball there has never been an owner who has really given a tinker's dam for the fans or the community as a whole. That's usually the case in all professional sports, everywhere, but it's especially sad because Hal & Co. could've done very well by doing good...
The new Stadium should've been BIGGER, not smaller, and it should not have meant having to destroy a beloved public park. Or if it did, the new public park should've been bigger and better than ever. There should've been no luxury boxes, no "Legends" seats beyond even the desire of the ultra-rich to fill and surrounded by a wall.
Picture 76,000 fans, say, out there every night in a park that, thanks to modern architectural advances, gets everyone closer to the field than ever.
Serve them food on which you only make a small profit per item—don't worry, you'll make it back and more on volume. Do everything you can to make it all a joyful experience. Make the Stadium beautiful from head-to-foot—not a half-assed job done by the mobbed-up, corrupt contractors you hired.
Forget some of the whiskey bars everywhere. You have a responsibility to people getting home alive and well. Put in more Yankees Hall of Fames and other attractions around the park. Don't worry—you'll make up the alcohol profits with increased merchandise sales.
Hire more vendors, so people don't have to leave their seats as much during the game. Stop with all the annoying, high-volume ads and hip-hop or heavy metal music between innings. You're not fooling any teenagers into coming out, and the rest of us would like to be able to talk...
Just do the decent thing, the right thing. You'll make more money than you know what to do with.
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