TORONTO — The Blue Jays have committed to paying their full-time staff, including their major-league and minor-league coaching staffs, their full salaries through May 31, an industry source told Sportsnet.
This development, which was first reported by John Lott of The Athletic Monday afternoon, comes at a time of considerable uncertainty amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
While clubs including the Blue Jays, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants have assured full-time staff of employment through May 31, other MLB teams are soon expected to have the flexibility to furlough employees or reduce pay since games are on pause and revenues are impacted. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, commissioner Rob Manfred was expected to suspend uniform employee contracts across the sport starting Monday.
In doing so, Manfred would provide teams with the option of cutting costs, though there’s no obligation to do so. Within MLB’s offices, senior executives such as Manfred are taking pay cuts averaging 35 per cent.
While big-league players aren’t getting their full salaries at this point, MLB advanced $170 million to divide amongst the players and cover the season’s first two months, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported in March. As for minor-league players, MLB extended some financial support and medical benefits through May 31st or until the beginning of the minor-league season — whichever comes first.
