NPR

Fight Against Low, Low Pay In Minor League Baseball Continues Despite New Obstacles

Minor league baseball players make very little money. Congress has locked in those low wages by exempting Major League Baseball from federal wage and overtime rules. Some players are fighting back.

It's been well-documented in recent years that minor league baseball players don't exactly share in the riches of the game. Most minor leaguers make an estimated $7,500 for a year. Major league players average more than $4 million.

A law passed by Congress a few months ago essentially locked in low minor league pay. But that hasn't stopped a small group of people fighting to help those players.

In an era of growing sports activism, creating a new website isn't quite a kneeling-during-the-national-anthem moment. But when former minor league player Jeremy Wolf launched morethanbaseball.org in April, it was an opening salvo in that fight to help minor leaguers.

From his home in San Antonio, Wolf says, "Even minor league umpires have a union and Major League Baseball has its own union. But minor league players are kind of on their own island. I want this [website] to

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR3 min read
Bearing Witness, Celebrating Strength: How Poetry Has Changed Lives For NPR's Audience
From sparking the imagination to helping with mental health, listen to poems read by NPR readers and see how poetry has affected their lives.
NPR3 min readAmerican Government
Who Is Hope Hicks, The Former Trump Adviser Testifying In New York Criminal Trial?
Hope Hicks was a communications director for the Trump White House and prosecutors may question her on her knowledge of the deals made during his first presidential run.
NPR3 min read
Scientists Welcome New Rules On Marijuana, But Research Will Still Face Obstacles
When marijuana becomes a Schedule III instead of a Schedule I substance under federal rules, researchers will face fewer barriers to studying it. But there will still be some roadblocks for science.

Related Books & Audiobooks