Minor league umpires are getting better perks in their new CBA
MLB players weren’t the only baseball people negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement this winter. Minor league umpires, represented by the Association of Minor League Umpires, have been working toward a new contract with Minor League Baseball Umpire Development, a subsidiary of Minor League Baseball, since their current CBA expired after the 2016 season. And on Monday, they announced they’d reached a new five-year collective bargaining agreement that includes a number of new perks for minor league umpires.
The Associated Press had the details on some of these new perks.
Hotel rooms. Apparently hotels with interior entrances are very important to umpires. In the new agreement, all umpire hotels must have interior entrances instead doors that go directly into parking lots or other outside spaces. (This is really a motel vs. hotel situation.)
Refrigerators. These aren’t for their favorite chilled beverages, though. It’s for concussion headgear. When an umpire working behind the plate is smacked in the head with a ball or a bat (or the ground), applying ice is one of the first things they do once they’re in the clubhouse. The refrigerators are to keep the ice for the concussion headgear frozen.
Days off. For the birth of a child, minor league umpires now get five days of paid family leave. They can also get additional days as directed by management. They can also not work more than 30 days straight.
Per diem. The per diems for every class of minor league umpires are going up by $2. Class A gets $44.50, Double A gets $50, and Triple A gets $58. By 2021, the end of this new CBA, per diems will have increased a total of $8.
Pay raise. The salary for all umpires is going up. Class A Short Season umpires in their first year will get paid $2000 a month, up $100 from the previous CBA. Fourth year umpires in the same class will can get as much as $2300 a month. Here are more details on the pay raises from the Associated Press:
For full-season Class A, the minimum rises from $2,000 to $2,100 and increases to $2,600 by a seventh season. At Double-A, the minimum goes up from $2,300 to $2,500 and rises to $3,100 by a ninth season. At Triple-A, it goes up from $2,600 to $2,900 and rises to $3,900 by a 14th season.
While better working conditions for any group is a good thing, it’s important to remember that while the minor league umpires are enjoying those new perks, the people who create the pitches and the plays they judge are still drastically underpaid, especially if they’re not on the 40-man roster. Minor leaguers at Class A Short Season get $1150 a month, $850 less than the umpires. In Double A, a minor leaguer who is there for the first time makes $1700, or $600 less than an umpire in their first year at Double A. Players in their first year at Triple A make $450 less than a first year Triple A umpire.
Again, the new perks for minor league umpires are great. Proper concussion headgear, days off, and general payment are all important, and it’s good they have them. But you can’t help but think about who’s being left behind in all this, and that’s the minor league players.
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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher
