New York Yankees: Yankee players to earn less and be exposed to COVID-19

New York Yankees, Gary Sanchez, Gerrit Cole, Aaron Boone
Feb 16, 2020; Tampa, Florida, USA; New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone (17), pitching coach Matt Blake, starting pitcher Gerrit Cole (45) and catcher Gary Sanchez (24) talk during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

New York Yankees players will no doubt be subject to more injuries when and if spring training 2.0 starts in a week or so.  First, the MLB and the MLBPA (players union) have got to come to a compromise that is acceptable to both sides.  Player health issues have been dealt with, with a 67-page health proposal that covers everything from limiting players in the dugout, no showers to no spitting allowed.

The stumbling block now is over pay cuts.  Obviously everyone involved in baseball from owners to players, to businesses around the stadiums, will lose money on the season. MLB is trying to spread out the loss with varying plans that so far have gained no traction with players.  Back in March the agreed to 50% pay cut based on playing a half-season of games.  As the coronavirus spread, the season was continually pushed back. The owners are worried due to huge losses that they will experience with no fans in the stands and no concession revenue.

The New York Yankees and other owners want the players to share in those losses, first proposing a revenue-sharing agreement that the players saw as a revenue cap and was dead on arrival.  In the newest economic proposal, the revenue-sharing plan was scrapped and substituted with even larger pay cuts for players. One problem with the plan is that higher-paid players may demand more cuts for their lower-paid counterparts. Why, because the proposal calls for greater percentage cuts for the highest-paid players.

To see what those pay cuts look like here are some New York Yankees players and what they will make under the plan.  Gerrit Cole that landed that huge contract before the coronavirus struck called for him to be paid about $36MM this year.  Under the plan, he will now make $8-9 million—still a huge amount of money but a drastic cut.  Giancarlo Stanton, who was due $26MM, will get just under $7MM, and Masahiro Tanaka, who was to get $23MM, will get something over $5MM.  The two other high paid Yankees are J.A. Happ and Aroldis Chapman, who will receive less but to a lesser degree.

Where you see the smallest cuts is with lower-paid players like most of the baby bombers.  The minimum major league pay is just over $563,000 for a full season of games.  They will now earn $262,000, which is a cut of just over 50%, while Cole’s cut is nearer 75%.  A player like Aaron Judge, who made near the league minimum last year, agreed to a new deal to avoid arbitration by accepting $8.5MM, he will now get $2.2MM.  It is hard to believe that the players will accept cuts this drastic.  If the plan can be negotiated, the owners will most likely get about half of the cuts they want. One thing is for sure this will be a grinding week of negotiations.

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on a season that will require a three to four-week spring training before the shortened regular season can begin.  When that training starts, Dr. Chris Ahmad, the New York Yankees lead team doctor, suggests that more injuries are inevitable after players have been shut down this long.  When alone, players, no matter how hard they try to stay in shape, it’s not the same as training with the team and playing games.  Ahmad is particularly worried about arm injuries.

Another concern, of course, is the coronavirus. Players will surely get the virus being in the clubhouse, on buses and planes together where social distancing will be less possible.  The league has already made the determination that when a player tests positive it will not close the team down unless it is a higher percentage of the team that has a positive test.  What is somewhat worrisome is that the positive player will not be quarantined for 14 days but will be allowed back with the team once he tests negative twice in a 24 hour period.

Most fans just want to see some baseball sooner than later.  They have accepted the fact that it might only be on television, and that is okay.  What they don’t have a lot of tolerance for is the quibbling over money particularly by players who fans already believe are overpaid for playing a game. Most fans would be more than happy to earn annually what Gerrit Cole will earn for pitching just seven innings.