MLB wants good housing for all players in the minors

A new agreement that will see major-league baseball owners provide housing to some minor-league players beginning next season is progress.

But there is still work to be done when it comes to helping minor-leaguers cope with financial strife away from the field.

Under the arrangement, first reported by ESPN on Sunday, MLB will require teams to ensure minor-league players have suitable housing — by providing stipends that fully cover the cost, or by arranging for lodging themselves.

In a statement, MLB confirmed the deal was being finalized and that it’s expected to be in place for the 2022 season, but did not specify which players would be eligible.

At Monday’s year-end availability, Blue Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro said the organization was working on finding places for minor-leaguers to live.

“It’s something that we were proactively already thinking about, every possible way to support our minor-league players to be the best they can be mentally, physically and fundamentally,” he said.

The Jays — who have affiliates in Buffalo (Triple-A), Manchester, N.H. (Double-A), Vancouver (High-A) and Dunedin (Low-A) — gave their minorleague players a 50-per-cent raise ahead of the 2019 season, the only team known to have paid more than the minimum. MLB later raised the minimum before the 2021 season, boosting payouts by 38 to 72 per cent.

It only went so far, however and, this year, players have advocated for a living wage across the board — some sporting teal wristbands with the slogan #FairBall, part of a campaign organized by Advocates for Minor Leaguers.

That group’s executive director, Harry Marino, said in a statement that finding and paying for in-season housing was at the top of almost every player’s wish list.

Up next, the organization tweeted, is a push for yearround pay.

“Most Minor Leagues make less than $15,000 per year and won’t receive their next paycheck until April,” Advocates for Minor Leaguers tweeted. “Like housing six players in a two-bedroom apartment, this is a broken model from a bygone era. It’s time to pay Minor Leaguers a livable annual salary.”

Shapiro says he’s seen conditions for minor-league players improve over time, but that there’s more to be done.

“I think we’re on the right trajectory,” he said, “but we still have a ways to go to ensure that those players have the capability and ability to provide for their families in a way that doesn’t put a strain outside of the game.”