MLB: Minor League Players Shouldn’t Be Paid in Spring Training

Major League Baseball has made its next stance.

The league is arguing that Minor League Baseball players (MILB) should not be paid during spring training. The league says that the players are not employees and would not ‘be subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act or any state minimum wage act’. They state that the players should be considered trainees.

Elise Bloom of Proskauer Rose — a firm that is counseling with the MLB in the lockout — is supporting the league adducing that the players are the ones that gain benefit from the Spring Training Opportunities:

The MLB Players Association is not expected to accept any negotiations in which the MILB players do not get paid in Spring Training, a source told The Sports Place, as many of the players spent years in the minor leagues enduring the same struggles that players endure today.

The Players Association and the MLB are expected to meet on Saturday in which the two sides will discuss potential compromises.