Dear Farhan Zaidi and the Giants Ownership Group,
Be better than the rest of baseball once again.
This week, the Toronto Blue Jays announced they were going to give their minor leaguers a pay increase of around than 50%. That’s good, but that’s still a ridiculously low amount of money.
• For Triple-A, that takes a base yearly salary from about $11,825 previously to $15,250 now.
• Double-A’s goes from about $9,350 to $12,750.
• Single-A goes from a base range of $6,050 to $8,400 up to $12,600.*
Minor league players are not paid for Spring Training. If a player stays in Extended Spring Training, they are not paid for that either, cutting into these salaries.
Those are yearly salaries. Yearly. The Federal Poverty line is $14,380.
Owners and operators of the San Francisco Giants, your players deserve better.
In the 1990’s, your ownership group recognized the difficulties that cities faced when paying for new baseball stadiums, and you went against the grain, and built one of baseball’s best stadiums, if not the best, with private money. For that, this ownership group deserved (and got) lauded by the fans and nonfans across baseball who recognized how great an achievement that was, because it was the right thing to do.
Now, do better again. Go against the grain again.
Pay these players more.
The players that play for these organizations are amazing athletes who deserve to be supported throughout the year. They are expected to work out year-round to stay in shape. As athletes, they need to eat well and sleep well to stay in shape. They should be able to help support their families, which many of them have.
Pay these players for Spring Training, which they are currently not paid. Pay them for extended spring training, which they are also not paid for. Pay them for the work they are expected to complete in the offseason, for which they are definitely not paid.
It doesn’t have to be a huge salary. It doesn’t have to be six figures. But it should be enough to live on.
Make an investment in your minor leaguers. Help them be healthier. Help them come into every season in better shape and with less stress. And that investment will come back into performance, and help this rebuilding team.
And let’s be honest, this has been a bad year for your ownership in terms of public perception. The worst since the previous group was ready to leave San Francisco. Maybe even worse than that. Break the mold, again. Do something that is not just better than what others do, but is also the right thing to do, and that will go a long way to helping rehabilitating your own image.
Please do this. For whatever motivation you have.
Signed, a season-ticket holder and lifelong fan,
Kevin J. Cunningham
And to the readers who are not part of the ownership group, please feel free to sign as well. With your username or real name. Whether you are season ticket holders or attend only a couple of times a season. Let ownership know you support this.
* - Numbers pulled from this article by Emily Waldon on The Athletic on the previous salaries and this article from the Athletic on the new pay scales.