Last week, it was revealed that MLB wanted to gain the ability to manipulate the minor league’s Domestic Reserve List, meaning they could (had they gotten the approval) eliminate hundreds of minor league playing jobs.
That development was reported by ESPN insider Jeff Passan.
The reserve list is currently at 180 per team, but MLB wanted to have the ability to reduce it to as low as 150, presumably after the 2023 season.
That won’t be happening now, or at least not at this time.
Passan himself made the announcement, via Twitter: “MLB today withdrew its request of the union to control — and potentially reduce — the number of minor league jobs,” quoting The Athletic’s Evan Drellich.
MLB today withdrew its request of the union to control — and potentially reduce — the number of minor league jobs, as @EvanDrellich said. The league could try to unilaterally going forward, but it won't do so in 2022 and at the moment does not have plans to pursue it in 2023.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 22, 2022
“The league could try to unilaterally going forward, but it won’t do so in 2022 and at the moment does not have plans to pursue it in 2023,” Passan continued.
Minor Leaguers Are Constantly Mistreated
Last week, when the initial report made the internet and, specifically, Twitter, fans raised their voice to defend minor leaguers and heavily criticize the league’s intentions.
Not only did they leave minor leaguers without a season in 2020 (special circumstances applied), but they cut over 40 minor league teams late that year.
In general, MLB’s treatment of minor leaguers speaks loudly about the league’s most evident deficiencies.
They often take them for granted and force them to “fight” for the right to play in the major leagues.
In 2021, most minor leaguers didn’t even make $15,000, which is outrageous.
The worst thing is that the MLB Players Association doesn’t even fight all of the minor leaguers’ battles.
For now, however, the league won’t be cutting more minor league playing jobs in the foreseeable future.
But the fact that they can eventually do it “unilaterally” is extremely worrisome.
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