Report: Cubs, Diamondbacks Pledge to Pay Employees Through May Amid MLB Hiatus

The Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks are paying their employees through May, while the San Diego Padres will cover the salaries of their baseball operations department through October.

The Athletic's Patrick Mooney reported the Cubs joined the list of teams committing to distribute regular paychecks for the month of May. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the Arizona Diamondbacks were taking the same step.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune's Kevin Acee, the Padres' "higher-level employees" will receive pay cuts.

Rosenthal reported Sunday that MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred was going to suspend Uniform Employee Contracts effective May, which opened the door for teams to trigger furloughs or pay cuts: "Teams would not be required to take such measures, but baseball's decision would provide the possibility of relief for clubs facing the most significant financial duress as the 2020 season remains on hold."

Franchises may take extreme measures as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has indefinitely postponed Opening Day and thus frozen the league's usual revenue sources.

Further complicating matters, it's unclear when the pandemic will slow to the extent teams might be able to stage games under any circumstances.

ESPN's Jeff Passan provided the details behind the "Arizona Plan," which would see all teams playing in and around Phoenix in empty stadiums. Rosenthal said last Friday that strategy is the "likeliest plan" at this point to resume play:

According to CBSSports.com's R.J. Anderson, there's another proposal to split MLB's 30 teams across sites in Arizona, Florida and Texas.

Team employees aren't the only ones potentially facing the financial consequences of a significantly shortened or scrapped 2020 season.

Passan reported senior staff within MLB's office would have their pay reduced by an average of 35 percent. Meanwhile, Rosenthal and Evan Drellich reported for The Athletic that owners could seek to have players accept a lower portion of their prorated salaries in the event stadiums are closed to fans.