Reports: Minor Leaguers to Enjoy Cake
If you came here to escape from “the real world,” you’re going to be disappointed like Milton. Like the Red Sox raising ticket prices on the day after Thanksgiving, the Nats tried a similar maneuver the past few days by releasing more than two dozen players late last week, then reducing the pay of the surviving players to $300 from $400.
Of course, much will be made about how the Nats’ major-leaguers are pledging to make up this shortfall, but this obscures the reality that one class of employees is subsidizing another while ownership is given a pass.
I suppose in some ways, we should be used to this. Booster clubs are formed to raise money to help house and feed players. While some of us groan at a rehab assignment, the players (save for the guy who has to sit) are often happy because they’re going to have something different and better to eat that night.
In her article for The Athletic ($$), Brittany Ghiroli references how GM Mike Rizzo “remember[ed] making $850 a month in a small California town in 1984” (Roehnert Park, Calif.) in late March before noting that half the teams are going month-to-month like Washington, with the extremes of Kansas City (no layoffs or pay cuts ) and Oakland (minor-leaguers have been cut off without free agency).
I always find it interesting when folks like Rizzo try to make themselves sound empathetic, woefully or willfully ignorant of how much worse things are today. Depending on which inflation calculator you use, That $850 in 1984 is worth anywhere from $2,097 to $2,184 in 2020.
Redwood in 1984, where Mike Rizzo played his final season, was Single-A. In 2019, the average monthly paycheck in Single-A ranged from $1,100 to $1,500. (Source)
Let them eat cake indeed.
Let’s not forget the Lerners are worth $6 Billion. Yes, to carry the metaphor further they seem to be using Marie Antoinette’s p.r. playbook.
Can you say low-class cheap?
So far we have 2 teams now who seem to know how to do the right thing with no layoffs and no pay cuts, the Royals and the Twins. A grand total of 2 out of 30.
I saw an ‘unofficial’ cut list and it seems about 40 players were let go. The two names that I’ve been following the longest are Hayden Howard and Drew Ward. I wish them well.
Full list from The Athletic: Keon Barnum, Dante Bichette Jr., Adalberto Carrillo, Phil Caulfield, Tyler Cropley, Austin Davidson, Jose De Los Santos, Rafael Gomez, Merandy Gonzalez, Abrahan Hiraldo, Hayden Howard, Jacob Howell, Hunter Jones, Alec Keller, Tyler Mapes, Adrian Martinez, Robert Milacki, Jordan Mills, Jorge Pantoja, Juan Pascal, Jairon Peguero, Landerson Pena, Nicholas Perkins, Anthony Peroni, Miguel Pozo, Paul Russo, Luis Sardinas, Derek Self, Eric Senior, Wilson Severino, JB Shuck, Jack Sundberg, Alejandro Vallejo, Eduardo Vera, Trey Vickers, Drew Ward, Allen Webster, Mac Williamson and Ryan Williamson.
Rough.
That there says no minor league season.
Hayden Howard is one in a normal year I would scratch my head on …New summer hobbies. Bird watching. Dog walking. Good paperback mystery novel reading ..
There are several guys on the list with long history with the Nats’ organization. Maybe Luke will do a farewell column to highlight some of them. Some great stories in Tyler Mapes, Alec Keller, Derek Self, and the highly drafted Drew Ward, who is still only 25 and may get another look elsewhere. Ward never really “failed,” he just didn’t succeed quite enough, which is the story of a lot of guys at AAA. I had good hopes at times for Hayden Howell, and Eric Senior and Ryan Williamson looked promising when drafted but never put it together between injuries and other setbacks. And we’ve already mentioned Austin Davidson, who worked hard to carve out a pretty good minor-league career after hitting only .266 his last season overlooking the Pacific at Pepperdine.
Good luck to all of these guys. All were extremely successful baseball players to even have a chance to play pro ball.