Dreams Cut Short

Carl Guenther almost got to play minor league baseball.

He was the owner of a local sporting goods store in Cleveland, OH where he was the first store in the area to sell Wilson sports equipment. A man came in to his store one day and offered him a tryout with the Cleveland Indians. Guenther took the opportunity to demonstrate his abilities and made the most of it.

The story goes that the Tribe asked him what position he played and he said first base. The Indians were looking for a power hitter at the time, but Guenther was more of a contact hitter. However, in his first at-bat of the tryout, he crushed a ball over the fence for a home run.

The Indians liked what they saw and offered him a contract to play for the Toledo Mud Hens. After discussing it with family and friends, Guenther decided to turn down the offer and continue in the sporting goods industry.

This story of my grandfather is in stark contrast to what is going on in baseball today. Guenther chose to cut his dream short.

Hundreds and thousands of minor league ballplayers had that choice made for them.

A report from Jeff Passan of ESPN stated that teams would be cutting upwards of 1,000 minor league baseball players. This report comes several days after the Oakland Athletics announced they would stop paying their minor leaguers their $400 salary.

These are players who have worked their whole life for this opportunity and now have to restart their lives. I believe we are now seeing the end of the minor league system.

For those who follow the game, this may not come as a big surprise, but it should worry us. The signs were clear, Major League Baseball had a minor league problem.

Before the start of the 2021 season, 40 teams were to be cut from the minor league system as a result of struggling finances. The expectation was that more teams were to be cut as the years went on.

When the pandemic hit, it left owners with a difficult choice-- whether or not to pay minor league players. Minor leaguers already made below minimum wage and often times had to be the benefactor of hospitable community members who opened up their homes in order to provide a place to stay.

On top of that, minor league players do not have the time to get part time jobs in order to provide for themselves. For these athletes, it is the love of the game and the fulfillment of a dream that kept them going.

All of the major league teams decided that they were going to pay the players in the minor league system a $400 weekly stipend at the start of the pandemic. This is barely enough to survive off of. Then, the Athletics decided to stop paying them.

The average minor league roster has a total of 35 players. That evens out to a total weekly expenditure of $14,000. Since the Athletics have a total of six minor league affiliates, the total cost to pay their players per month would be roughly $336,000.

For comparison, the owners of the Athletics are valued around $2 billion. Please tell me how it's fair for billionaires to stop paying their athletes an already minuscule contract? I’ll save you the breath, it’s not.

Now, to make matters worse, over 1,000 minor leaguers are losing their opportunity to chase their dream. These athletes who have already sacrificed their lives to live out their passion are now having the carpet ripped out from under them.

These players did not choose to have their dream cut short. They did not even have a chance to prove themselves before being released. They were forcefully and unfairly removed from the game because of greed.

The next time you hear owners complaining about their struggling finances, think about the minor leaguers who were already living off of peoples couches. The next time you hear Major League players argue over a salary cut, remember those athletes who had their dream cut short before being able to prove themselves.

If things continue like they are, it will not be long until the minor leagues are completely obliterated. And that would then signal the inevitable—the demise of Major League Baseball.

It is not fair that minor league ballplayers were forced to have their dreams cut short. Major League Baseball, you need to do better.