MLB: Minors baseball 'is not a career'
Major League Baseball says it supports wage limits on minor-league players because baseball shouldn't be considered a career until they make it to the majors.
In support of the Save America's Pastime Act introduced in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, the league piped in Thursday to agree that minor leaguers shouldn't be paid on an hourly basis.
Related: Congress introduces act to lower minor-league salaries
The legislation aims to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to exclude minor-league clubs from having to pay players minimum wage or overtime pay. Not only does MLB support the act, but it called playing in the minors an "apprenticeship."
"Being a Minor League Baseball player is not a career but a short-term seasonal apprenticeship in which the player either advances to the Major Leagues or pursues another career," the league said in a statement.
MLB went on to compare baseball players to salaried employees such as artists and musicians, who are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards.
"Like those professionals, it is simply impractical to treat professional athletes as hourly employees whose pay may be determined by such things as how long their games last, when they choose to arrive at the ballpark, how much they practice or condition to stay in shape, and how many promotional or charitable appearances they make."
The Major League Baseball Player's Association responded to the statement.
"The Major League Baseball Player's Association believes that all workers, including athletes who are directly employed by the Major and Minor League clubs, are entitled to the statutory protections afforded to them by all of the employment laws of the United States and the various states and municipalities, including the protections for both minimum wages and overtime work."
Earlier in the day, Rep. Cheri Bustos withdrew her support from the act after getting backlash for spearheading it in the first place alongside Rep. Brett Guthrie.
"In the last 24 hours, several concerns about the bill have been brought to my attention that have led me to immediately withdraw my support of the legislation," she said in a statement.
"I cannot support legislation that does so at the expense of the players that draw us to stadiums."
According to Jeff Blank Sports Law, monthly salaries are $1,150 for short season teams, $1,300 for Low-A, and $1,500 for High-A teams. For players who return to the same level in multiple years, the salary goes up $50 each year.
For Double-A, the monthly salary is $1,700 and climbs $100 per month for every year following that. In Triple-A, the monthly salary is $2,150 per month and goes up to $2,400 in the second year and $2,700 in the third year.
Players are also only paid during the season, which runs from April to August.