Monday, August 1, 2022

Credit Where It's Due: Blumenthal Is Right To Take On MLB's Monopoly

My latest column for CTNewsJunkie.com:

I may not be the biggest fan of Sen. Richard Blumenthal but I think he is has this right and it's time I said something about it. Major League Baseball's 100-year-old antitrust exemption has outlived its usefulness. Blumenthal and a bipartisan group of fellow senators are pressuring the league to explain itself in the face of evidence that the exemption serves only to protect the interests of the league and no one else.

To wit:

Speaking of wages, Blumenthal pointed out at a press conference (he likes press conferences) at Dunkin’ Donuts Park in Hartford last week, minor league players who are not on the 40-man roster of their major league organization make between $4,800 and $14,700 per year and are paid only during the baseball season. This would include most of the players on the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats, who play in the very stadium Blumenthal was standing in.

To that I might add, the low pay for minor leaguers disadvantages those whose families don’t have the means to support them while they work for pennies for a long-shot chance to make millions in the big leagues.

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