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Report: Cardinals, White Sox, Twins Commit to Paying Employees Through June
May 21, 2020
Major League Baseball is still without a date to begin the 2020 season, but the Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins and St. Louis Cardinals are among the clubs committed to financially supporting employees through at least June 30 regardless.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported:
Ken Rosenthal @Ken_Rosenthal#WhiteSox another club keeping all employees with full salaries and benefits through 6/30, sources tell The Athletic. Some with CWS had hours adjusted because of changing workloads, but salaries stayed same. Others with no furloughs, pay cuts through 6/30: #MNTwins, #STLCards.
The Athletic's Dan Connolly also provided an update on how the Baltimore Orioles are handling employees as the coronavirus pandemic continues:
Dan Connolly @danconnolly2016Hearing #Orioles employees, who were assured they’d be paid through May, will continue to work into June from home. Sense is they’ll be paid through June and management is still hoping to avoid furloughs/layoffs as the organization awaits further word on a potential 2020 season.
The Philadelphia Phillies took it one step further by ensuring employees' jobs through October, while the Detroit Tigers and Colorado Rockies are indefinitely paying employees their full salaries:
Ken Rosenthal @Ken_RosenthalEarlier this month, #Phillies committed to keeping all employees through October. #Tigers told employees they will continue receiving their full salaries and benefits without setting a specific end date. #Rockies also committed to paying their employees for as long as possible. https://t.co/40hAPmm0DY
MLB's Opening Day was originally meant for March 26, but the league announced the cancellation of spring training and delay of Opening Day on March 12.
Rosenthal reported April 19 that MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred had suspended uniform employee contracts, giving each club the choice to furlough or enact pay reductions.
Chicago Cubs employees had their pay cut but were guaranteed employment through June, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan on Wednesday:
Jeff Passan @JeffPassanChicago Cubs employees will be taking pay cuts and have been guaranteed employment through at least the end of June, sources familiar with an employee call today told ESPN. A majority of the cuts will be for 15% or less. The hope is that baseball is back in June and no furloughs.
Elsewhere in the National League Central, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Thursday, the Pittsburgh Pirates furloughed "about 20 percent of the organization's employees for an undetermined amount of time starting on June 1."
Mackey also noted the Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays as clubs that have already furloughed employees.
Also on Thursday, the MLB Players Association presented its proposal to the league as the two sides continue negotiations toward being able to play the 2020 season:
Jeff Passan @JeffPassanThe Major League Baseball Players Association intends to respond to MLB’s 67-page health-and-safety operations draft today, an MLBPA official tells ESPN. The union declined to publicly offer specifics on the substance of the response but said in a statement: https://t.co/BZaMQTvtwa
Jeff Passan @JeffPassanThe MLBPA has delivered its proposal to MLB, as @joelsherman1 said. Among the topics, per source: - protection for high-risk players/family members - frequency of testing - protocol for positives - sanitization - need for pre- and postgame therapy - medical personnel at stadium
In terms of pay cuts, players such as Rays ace Blake Snell and Phillies All-Star outfielder Bryce Harper publicly opposed MLB's proposed revenue-sharing plan last week.