NEW YORK – A housing expansion is expected to provide more than 90% of minor league players with furnished homes at all levels, Major League Baseball announced Thursday.
The policy will have exceptions, including players on Major League Baseball uniform player contracts and minor leaguers scheduled to earn six-figure salaries for an entire season. Players will receive accommodations at the Triple-A, Double-A, Single-A, High-A, and Low-A levels and at the spring training complex levels.
“This is a historic victory for the players, who forced the league’s hand by speaking out during the 2021 season,” Advocates for Minor Leaguers director Harry Marino said in a statement. “Make no mistake: this victory is the product of the collective action of the players. While the magnitude of the victory cannot be overstated, it is important to recognize that the minor leaguers had no formal voice on the details of the plan.
Morgan Sword, MLB’s executive vice president of baseball operations, released a statement acknowledging many of the adaptations the league is making on behalf of the minor leagues.
“The owners began our first season by modernizing the player development system, focused on addressing long-standing issues that have impacted minor league players for decades,” Sword said in the press release. “As part of the new system, owners increased salaries from 38% to 72% by 2021, improved facilities, provided more amenities and better clubhouse conditions, eliminated all clubhouse fees, and reduced travel during the season with better geographic alignment.
“This step forward recognizes that the unprecedented nature of the past two years has further exacerbated the nationwide affordable housing challenges that existed before the pandemic.”
MLB provided housing for players at the spring training complex and player development levels in 2021, but the expansion will encompass all of the minor leagues.
Dorms must contain a single bed for each player, with no more than two players per bedroom. The houses will be furnished and the clubs will pay the utility bills. When it is not possible to rent apartments and houses, clubs can offer hotel rooms that meet the league’s requirements.
“The unsettling reality is that many players are working on a second, or even a third, jobs just to make ends meet,” Marino said. “Housing is just one aspect of MLB’s fundamentally flawed minor league system.”
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
