Sarris: Three days in the life (and finances) of a minor-league player
From SABR member Eno Sarris at The Athletic on March 27, 2018:
The recent budget bill passed by Congress and signed into law by the President had language guaranteeing minor leaguer baseball players that they would not be paid less than “a weekly salary equal to the minimum wage.” That sounds fine, and yet it’s a devastating new legal definition that’s designed to put a cap on what minor leaguers can argue they are due. That’s because their work week is now legally a 40-hour, seasonal work week that is only relevant during the regular season. It’s now codified that teams are able to avoid paying players during Spring Training, the offseason, and anything that lasts more than 40 hours in a given week.
Instead of declaring this ludicrous from my desk—does baseball really seem like a 40-hour work week to anyone?— I thought it might make sense to get a real sense of what it’s like to be a minor leaguer. Since baseball has literally called minor leaguers “creative professionals” who are basically all enjoying their own “short-term seasonal apprenticeship,” it makes sense to ask just how seasonal their lives are, what their hours are like all year, and how much they make once you factor in their offseason jobs.
To answer these questions, I turned to former minor leaguer Eric Sim. Born in South Korea, Sim lived there until he was 13. He played in Korea, then in Canada, and after a scholarship at a Kansas junior college, he got a division one scholarship and landed on scouts’ radars.
Read the full article here: https://theathletic.com/288633/2018/03/27/sarris-three-days-in-the-life-and-finances-of-a-minor-league-baseball-player/
Originally published: March 27, 2018. Last Updated: March 27, 2018.