Rob Manfred adamant MLB ‘has made real strides over the last few years’ in minor league player pay

4:49 p.m. ET

• Jeff Passan ESPN

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  ESPN MLB Insider Author of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports”

LOS ANGELES — Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday that he “rejects[s] premise” that minor league players are not paid a living wage, drawing a barrage of criticism a day after the Senate Judiciary Committee asked in a letter about the league’s treatment of minor league players.

When asked if the owners can’t afford to pay the minor leaguers more or just choose not to, Manfred said, “I kind of reject the premise of the question that the minor leaguers aren’t getting paid, necessary for subsistence. We’ve made real strides in the last couple of years in terms of paying minor league players, even leaving aside the signing bonuses that many of them have already received. They get housing, which is obviously another form of compensation. I’m just rejecting the premise of the question.. I don’t know what else to say about it.”

Manfred continued: “I reject the premise that they are not being paid a living wage.”

Although minor league salaries have increased in recent seasons and teams this year for the first time are mandated to provide housing, the majority of minor league player salaries are below the poverty line. Players not on the 40-man roster or with major league experience earn between $4,800 and $14,700 a year and are only paid during the season, leaving many to supplement their income in the offseason as they try to prepare for next year .

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“Most minor league baseball players work second jobs because their annual salaries are insufficient to make ends meet,” said Harry Marino, executive director of Advocates for Minor Leaguers. “The commissioner receives an annual salary of $17.5 million. His suggestion that minor league pay is acceptable is both callous and false.”

Earlier this week, MLB settled a $185 million class action lawsuit by minor league players who claimed the teams violated the minimum wage and overtime. The agreement, which covers more than 20,000 players, will distribute more than $120 million across the group and calls for MLB to allow teams to pay minor league players during spring training, extended spring training and in instructional leagues.

Judicial leadership’s letter to Manfred on Monday questioned the need for the league’s century-old antitrust exemption, particularly with respect to the minor leagues. It also delved into corruption in Latin America, a relevant issue with the July 25 deadline for MLB and the MLB Players Association to agree on a framework for an international draft.