18 MLB teams to pay baseball-operations employees through May 31
18 MLB teams have committed to paying baseball-operations employees through May 31, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
The Red Sox, Cubs and Braves are among the teams that have agreed to pay employees through the end of May. The Padres will pay all employees through the rest of 2020, though there will be some pay cuts initiated, per The Athletic’s Dennis Lin.
MLB suspended all operations on March 12 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. No return date has been set, though the league continues to explore potential avenues for resuming play.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred informed teams on Monday that he will suspend Uniform Employees Contracts. That suspension allows clubs to furlough or reduce the pay of team employees amid the coronavirus pandemic, per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Senior staff on teams throughout the league have already faced pay cuts, though full-time employees have their pay guaranteed through May.
Manfred and the commissioners office have also taken pay reductions.
“As part of our effort to protect the organization, my senior staff and I have decided to reduce our compensation by an average of 35% for 2020 to help the organization weather this terrible storm,” Manfred wrote in the memo.