“We are dealing with an organization controlled by several billionaires with a combined net worth of over $100 billion,” he said in a statement after the lockout ended. “It should be clear to everyone that these baseball oligarchs have demonstrated that they are much more concerned with increasing their wealth and profits than they are with strengthening our national pastime.”
In a lengthy speech, the Vermont senator said MLB was “negotiating in bad faith” in a “blatant attempt to destroy the players’ union.”
These are the baseball oligarchs who have eliminated their affiliation with more than 40 minor league teams over the past year, not only causing unnecessary economic pain and suffering, but also breaking the hearts of fans in small and medium-sized cities across America. These are the baseball oligarchs who continue to pay minor league players grossly inadequate wages and want to eliminate the jobs of 900 more minor league players. These are baseball oligarchs who receive billions of dollars of corporate wealth from taxpayers to build expensive stadiums. These are the baseball oligarchs who, in many cases, charge outrageous ticket prices that many working-class families cannot afford.
MLB and the players’ association have reached an agreement on player contracts that will allow the season to begin on April 7, about a week after the originally scheduled opening day. Negotiations lasted 99 days and the players pushed for more control over their contracts and higher minimum wages after the payroll fell 4% last year to 2015 levels.
The agreement will raise the minimum wage for players from $570,500 to approximately $700,000, among other financial changes, while MLB provided an extended postseason with more teams in the playoffs.
Sanders says he plans to introduce legislation in Congress that would repeal MLB’s 100-year antitrust exemption that went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the league could suppress wages and make other business decisions that would normally violate antitrust laws. legislation. regulations.