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Major League Baseball announced a plan on Thursday that will provide financial support to minor-league players through April 9, with discussions ongoing to keep some sort of financial support going through the start of the 2020 regular season (assuming it eventually takes place).
A league-wide initiative has been announced for Minor League players to receive compensation between now and the scheduled start of the Minor League season. @MLB will continue to work with all 30 Clubs on the development of an industry-wide plan for compensation beyond 4/8. pic.twitter.com/Ck8Lv9uuzp
— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) March 19, 2020
While it’s obviously not perfect and will provide players with roughly $500 total — $25 per diem over the next three weeks — this is something to tide minor-leaguers over, which is crucial since they haven’t received an official paycheck since the end of last season and many of them have salaries that are close to or below minimum wage.
The most glaring exception from this plan is players who are currently receiving housing, food, or other services from teams. That creates a no-win situation for international players who are unable to return to their homes, but are now stuck in a situation where they may have to go many months without getting paid. Hopefully the plan that MLB announces next month will be more concrete and give minor-leaguers what they need to have comfortable living conditions during the stoppage in play.