Blue Jays: If David Price can find the money, what’s the excuse?

Former Blue Jays pitcher David Price is forking over a lot of money to help Dodger minor leaguers, and making MLB owners look bad in the process.

David Price has made a lot of money during his MLB career, and he has some pretty big pay days still waiting for him before his current contract is over. That said, I sincerely doubt he’s worth more than an ownership group of a MLB franchise.

And yet, after the news that hundreds of MiLB players were cut yesterday, Price did the unthinkable and reportedly offered to do what many MLB ownership groups wouldn’t, paying minor leaguers in the Dodgers system for the month of June. According to MLB writer Francys Romero, Price will be paying $1000 to each minor leaguer.

Not only is this an incredibly generous thing for Price to do, but it also highlights the ugliness of salary negotiations right now in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. For me, it begs one question: If Price can find the money, why can’t these billionaire ownership groups do the same?

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I get it, revenue is going to take a massive hit this year without fans in the stands, and even if things go well from here on out, we’re only looking at a maximum of an 82-game season. That said, we’re talking about minor league salaries here. It’s not a big piece of the financial pie, and yet the ramifications for these young athletes will be irreversible. For many players, this will spell the end of their careers, and getting cut loose right now is a slap in the face for all of their hard work and sacrifice. I’m not sure how many people we’re talking about with Price here, but Texas Rangers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo did something similar back in April, and covered the salaries of 190 people.

You could literally do the same for every minor leaguer in baseball for less than what the league is proposing to cut from JUST Hyun-Jin Ryu‘s salary this year. That’s not an exaggeration either. The proposal that the player’s union scoffed at this week would see Ryu’s 20 million dollar salary in 2020 go down to 5.15 million if it was agreed upon (it won’t be). If it cost roughly $200,000 per team x 30 teams, we’re only talking about approximately six million dollars a month. I realize that’s a lot of money, but 190 people times 30 teams equates 5700 salaries. I also realize I’m only ball-parking these costs (pun intended), but I’m sure you get the idea.

It’s really unfortunate that negotiations are going so poorly between the league and the player’s union so far, but it’s not hard to see why the players are unhappy. There are a lot of financial hurdles that will need to be worked out, and both sides are going to have to make some concessions. That said, and as far as the minor leaguers go, i’ll say it again: If one player in David Price can make this kind of gesture, there’s no excuse that ownership can’t do the same.