Minor Leaguers income ...

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

It seems strange to me that a database containing the salaries of all minor league players is not available. While not a coverup, it certainly isn't a full, proud, accounting.

I don't think it's anything like a "coverup" -- pretty sure clubs aren't even required to publicly report their MLB salaries, which is why you see sites like Cot's and B-Ref using a variety of sources for that information.  To do so for the minor leagues would be almost impossible -- sometimes it feels like we are lucky to simply know who is assigned where.  And as others have intimated, such a minor league salary database would be of very little benefit since the salaries are pretty uniform (and low).

 

I don't even think such a database, if it existed, would be a particularly good tool for shaming MLB organizations into better practices.  The worst parts of the system (poor benefits, unpaid mandatory things like spring training, etc.) have nothing to do with the low salaries.

[Mike Sixel]

sports fans don't care about the athletes much at all, that's clear from the comments all over the intewebs. There is no shaming coming....

[Guest]

 

The parent club pays the players, and I'm sure there are several other things they need to provide as well. 

 

Then the affiliate is required to do certain things as well. 

 

Again, Steve would probably be a better resource for what some of those things are. 

Food, lodging and clubhouse dues, etc., are among the most inconsistent things I’ve found with regard to minor league life. You seem to get different answers to the same questions, depending on who you ask. The general sense I get is that nobody is real anxious to talk about some of those aspects. I’ll share what I THINK is going on, based on my observations and the few conversations I’ve had, but I can’t be sure every observation is accurate.

 

Under the MLB/MiLB agreement, certain costs are specifically, contractually, assigned to the parent team and others are the responsibility of the local minor league club. So that you don’t have significant unfair advantages in affiliation discussions, the parties aren’t allowed to make side agreements changing those responsibilities. Things not addressed in the agreement are where some of these things fall.

 

I mentioned host families in an earlier comment. My understanding is that, unlike in some cities, players don’t have to pay their host families rent. I honestly don’t know whether the local club compensates the families or whether joining the host family program means agreeing not to charge rent. I think host families may get non-monetary benefits (tickets, discounts, etc.), but the host families I’ve met really do just enjoy the experience of helping out the players and establishing what is often a lifelong relationship with some of them. I know host families that travel across country every year to visit former players that stayed with them, attend their weddings, etc.

 

The clubhouse manager gets what is perhaps a few bucks higher than intern-level pay from the club. I’ve read/heard that perhaps the club gets reimbursed to some degree by the parent team, but I’m not sure on that. Players do pay clubhouse dues (not sure on the amount, but I think it’s roughly $10/day and, I assume, only while at home), but little of that ends up in the clubbie’s pocket. Most of it is used for food. Pre-game spreads are, obviously, much lighter than post-game meals. I believe the pregame food comes out of the clubhouse dues. Postgame meals, which vary widely by team (or so I’m told), may be subsidized by the club but also may be enhanced a bit out of clubhouse dues. Arranging the meals (not to mention doing just about everything else in the clubhouse, from distributing and monitoring equipment to cleaning uniforms, showers and latrines) is part of the clubbie’s job during homestands. The clubbie does not travel with the team. Home teams must provide a visitor’s clubhouse manager.

 

Players get $25 a day for food on the road (up from $20 before 2010). I don’t recall ever seeing a postgame spread when I’ve been in a Kernels clubhouse after a road game, but that doesn’t mean it never happens. I don’t cover every road game and, when I do, my focus is generally on getting my questions answered and story posted as quickly as possible. I do know I often interview players after home games while they are eating their food. I don’t recall doing that after road games. I also know I’ve been at a bar across the street from the CR stadium right after games when visiting players have come in and gotten food to go, then rushed back to make sure they caught their bus.

 

I know that, for some extended road trips, the Kernels Booster Club also puts together “healthy” travel snacks for the bus trips. It’s not a huge deal, obviously, but it’s an example of how the locals do try to make things a little better for the players.