Minor League Baseball Players Cite Tweet by Mets Owner Steve Cohen in MLB Compensation Class Action

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Minor League Baseball Minimum Wage Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: Minor league baseball players are referencing a tweet by New York Mets owner Steve Cohen to support their class action lawsuit against Major League Baseball. 
• Why: Players claim they are paid less than minimum wage by the league. Cohen tweeted over the weekend that minor league draft picks are worth more than they are paid. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit involves minor leaguers in Florida, Arizona, and California, according to the AP.

Minor league baseball players who filed a class action lawsuit against Major League Baseball seven years ago are using a recent tweet from New York Mets owner Steve Cohen to reinforce claims they are under-compensated and due back pay.

Minor league players originally filed the class action lawsuit back in 2014, claiming the league pays them less than minimum wage, reports the AP. 

Cohen, meanwhile, wrote a tweet over the weekend suggesting minor league draft picks are worth significantly more than what they are first paid. 

“Education time — Baseball draft picks are worth up to 5x their slot value to clubs. I never shy away from investments that can make me that type of return,” Cohen tweeted.

Cohen’s tweet was highlighted in a subsequent report commissioned by the players that was written by former U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Dr. Erica Groshen, reports Bleacher Report.

“One recent indication of the value of a minor league player comes from Steven Cohen, owner of the New York Mets,” Groshen wrote. “He asserts that baseball draft picks are worth up to five times their slot value to Clubs.”

Minor League Players Allege Starvation Wages in Ongoing Class Action

Both the minor leaguers and MLB have unsuccessfully petitioned the judge overseeing the case to forgo a trial and simply rule in their favor, reports Bleacher Report.

MLB has argued that they don’t need to pay minor league players minimum wage because they are “seasonal employees” and receive compensation in the opportunities that come from being in the league’s orbit, reports Bleacher Report.

Minor league players claimed in their 2014 suit that most are paid less than $7,500 a year, according to the AP, which reports MLB plans to increase the minimum annual salary for full-season Class A players from $5,800 to $10,000.

MLB provided minor league players with a $400 a week stipend for most or all of last year’s season that was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reports the AP.

The league also said in a statement released last year that it planned to raise minor league players’ salaries’ anywhere from 38 to 72 percent for this past season, reports the AP.

“MLB remains focused on modernizing its player development system to enhance the minor league experience for players, including providing them with renovated facilities, reduced travel, and improved daily working conditions,” the league said in a statement at the time.

Earlier this year, Baltimore Orioles minor league pitcher Cody Sedlock was appointed lead plaintiff for an already-certified Class of minor league players for damages as well as the new class of players. 

Do you believe MLB should pay its minor league players at least minimum wage? Let us know in the comments! 

The players are represented by Stephen Tillery, Garrett Broshuis and Jamie Boyer of Korein Tillery LLC and Clifford Pearson, Daniel Warshaw, Bobby Pouya, Thomas Nolan and Benjamin Shiftan of Pearson Simon & Warshaw LLP. 

The Minor League Baseball Salary Class Action is Aaron Senne et al. v. Office of the Commissioner of Baseball et al., Case No. 3:14-cv-00608, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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