Oakland A’s owner John Fisher has changed his mind and will now pay the organization’s minor league players.
The A’s informed their minor league players last week that they would not be paid their $400 weekly stipend after the month of May. The response was met by criticism from many, who believed the move signified unnecessary frugality that was unfair to the players, who also would not have the option of signing with another team.
Fisher told the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser that he “made a mistake.”
An @sfchronicle exclusive: A's owner John Fisher reverses course, apologizes: team will pay minor-leaguers; "I concluded I made a mistake," he tells me. He's also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees: https://t.co/8HUBkFAaBx)
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) June 5, 2020
The minor league baseball season has not officially been canceled, but the widely held expectation is that there will not be a minor league season.
Many MLB teams tend to have around 200 minor league players within their organization. The Washington Nationals also reversed course and decided they would eliminate the planned pay cuts they had for their minor leaguers.
