Quote from Ben Davey on October 5, 2020, 10:33 am

Remember Avila came up last year, had one great start, was sent back down (as he was making a spot start), and his first game back in Amarillo he left with an injury that led to TJ.  I am 100% sure he will be resigned IF he is healthy.  But as we know theres usually about 30% of pitchers who just never recover from TJ.

Quote from Randy Manese on October 5, 2020, 8:52 pm

Ben,

Will MadFriars be giving us some insight on how the Padres' minor leaguers are doing in the Instructs?   Are you able to cover the games or are you, as well as fans and media, not allowed to attend?

Quote from Randy Manese on October 5, 2020, 9:30 pm

By my count, I have 32 pitchers and 28 position players eligible for Rule 5 draft.  6 eligible pitchers and 7 position players were named to the instructs.  Because of TJ surgery, Lawson was not named but presumably will be protected in our 40 man.  This list does not include PTBNL that may be exiting or coming, the latter wouldn't make sense to me to add if needed to be protected.  If Marcano is also expected to be protected, then my guess is that Thompson and Bachar might be under consideration from the pitching side and Eguy Rosario and Esteury Ruiz from the position player side.  That totals 6 of 60, so at a maximum only 10% of all our Rule 5 eligibles that will probably be protected.   With FA, non-tenders and off-season trades, could be room for 6 but likely not that many, if any, will be protected beyond Lawson and Marcano.

Quote from Ben Davey on October 6, 2020, 12:41 am

Quote from Randy Manese on October 5, 2020, 8:52 pm

Ben,

Will MadFriars be giving us some insight on how the Padres' minor leaguers are doing in the Instructs?   Are you able to cover the games or are you, as well as fans and media, not allowed to attend?

We will have pieces about the fall instructs as well as interviews with people who are there.  We are not allowed to be there but doing what we can to get as much info as we can for you guys.

Quote from fenn68 on October 6, 2020, 6:41 am

Saw the article on the courts allowing a class action suit concerning the case of minor league players v MLB on paying minimum wage. Can't speculate on the legal aspects (ton of lawyers will not agree) but apparently a decision could be retroactive until 2009 giving back pay to all minor league players and force increasing minor league pay going forward. It likely takes years to get this through the courts and appeals.

From the owners' standpoint ... there is now added risk of being forced to spend more money ... a retro pay lump sum and more pay going forward.

That should have an impact on the negotiations between MiLB and MLB on the future of the minors in a way the creates some other cost offsets for MLB for ongoing operations. Also may be a reason for owners to create a cash fund to pay the retro (by not spending on other issues) starting now given the other issues with cash in 2020-21.

No idea of the magnitude of dollars in play ... but the retro base could be in the 5,000 player annually going back 10 years costing the difference between actual pay and minimum wage pay (plus a chance in such suits that there are punitive damages which could extend the costs).

Quote from hoffy51 on October 6, 2020, 6:53 am

If enacted, it will just reduce further the number of minor league teams. Probably the guys pushing the lawsuit will get cut.

Quote from fenn68 on October 6, 2020, 12:01 pm

Quote from hoffy51 on October 6, 2020, 6:53 am

If enacted, it will just reduce further the number of minor league teams. Probably the guys pushing the lawsuit will get cut.

They are probably guys that have been already cut (or about to be cut as non-prospects) .. for the most part.

Quote from Ben Davey on October 6, 2020, 1:19 pm

I dont think it will "cut" the number of teams, but it will change how they are paid.  They will be paid more, but some of the things that are provided will cost a lot more.  Right now they are called "clubhouse dues" but that can increase as that includes pre/post game spread (essentially late lunch and dinner daily), washing, training, medical, etc..

I 100% stand with the players, it was sad seeing Cody Decker discuss that he didnt make a 4 digit paycheck (over $1,000) until he got to Triple-A. Not to mention a lot of times they are not paid for Spring Training and other activities.

Everything can be solved easily actually.  Most full season clubs have contracts with local radio stations, and the bigger clubs have tv contracts as well (probably brings in 50-100k/yr for most markets more for bigger markets like El Paso, San Antonio, etc..).  With MLB now in charge of MiLB they can work on paying ALL clubs to show tv games.  MiLB charges people $50/yr for MiLB.tv.  They could easily raise it to $70 if ALL clubs had TV.  You figure what 500k people world wide subscribe to it?  Thats an extra 35 MILLION into MiLB budget.  That extra money goes to each team and offsets the additional costs of paying the players more.

Note: Current plan looks like four full season teams ONLY (plus complex leagues, but those are run and paid by the organization, so the Padres could have 3 AZL teams if they really wanted).  But they already added some Indy League clubs to the minors so no one really knows what the leagues will look like next year.

Quote from fenn68 on October 6, 2020, 3:20 pm

The minimum wage debate will be around hours worked and use of the federal or state minimum wage laws.

If the starting pay is around $1,100 / month (1st year type) and assuming a 40 hour week ... that is below the federal minimum of $7.25 / hour (well below the CA minimum of $13/hour moving up to $15/hour in the next few years). Feds are not moving as far as I know.

Then who really thinks a minor league player is “working” for the club only 40 hours a week when you consider the club “control” over arrival/departure times for games, workouts, etc. Roll past 40 hours per week and in most states .... need to factor in overtime premiums.

Owners will argue they are not hourly players but contract players ... then it gets “fuzzy” as to the application of minimum wage laws.

Should be an interesting follow ... not sure how it gets resolved but expect MLB upping the minor league pay going forward almost voluntarily. Retro might be a fight. Definition of applicable laws might be a fight with other implications in player relationships.