Spring Training has become big business. The minor league players get almost none of it."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Chicago Cubs recapsChicago Cubs minor leaguesChicago Cubs essaysChicago Cubs game threadsWrigley Field renovationsFull archiveLibrary Bleed Cubbie Blue Community GuidelinesCurrent time in ChicagoBCB Specials & Site InfoWinter 2019 music threadsCubs StoriesScheduleRosterStatsYahoo Cubs newsYahoo Cubs team pageYahoo Cubs reportYahoo Cubs depth chartYahoo Cubs transactionsYahoo Cubs photosOdds Shop About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub 鉁旵hicago Cubs spring trainingMLB essaysReminder: Players don’t get paid for Spring TrainingNew Corey Kluber Jersey ,107commentsSpring Training has become big business. The minor league players get almost none of it. CDTShareTweetShareShareReminder: Players don’t get paid for Spring TrainingAl YellonTickets for Tuesday’s Spring Training game between the Reds and the Cubs at Sloan Park cost between 20 and 58 dollars. The players who actually play the game will get almost none of it. That’s because players don’t get paid for Spring Training.In an article published last week, Ted Berg called attention to the plight of minor league catchers, most of who are working for subminimum wages, who are then expected to spend their days helping the pitchers get their tosses in. In exchange, they get breakfast, lunch and a $25 per diem allowance. (The per diem goes up to $95.50 if they’re in uniform for the day’s game.) MLB justifies this by saying that minor league baseball is akin to an apprenticeship and that Spring Training is something like an audition. But as Berg notes, few of those catchers have any hope of actually playing in the big leagues in 2019. Most of them are just there to catch the pitchers who will actually be playing in the majors this year. Spring Training is unpaid because that’s what it’s always been. It’s a holdover from the days when major league ballplayers actually had winter jobs and had to get back into shape after a winter layoff. Today’s major leaguers train 12 months a year. Spring Training still exists because it’s a big money maker for the teams and the cities that host them.Of course, that Spring Training is unpaid really isn’t an issue for major league ballplayers. Anthony Rizzo isn’t going to have trouble finding the money to rent a house for a month and provide for his family. He’s going to get a big check two weeks into the season. Even a second-year player like David Bote, who only got paid half of the major-league minimum last season, shouldn’t have had any trouble putting enough money aside to get himself through the month of March in Arizona. But what about the 16th-round pick who got a $15,000 bonus two years ago? What about the Latin American player who got a similar bonus and is struggling to survive in a foreign country and is probably sending money home from his meager salary anyway? These guys have to figure out how to survive for six weeks on no salary. And woe to the player that gets left behind in Extended Spring Training once the season starts. Those players might not see a paycheck until mid-June when the short-season leagues start.MLB’s explanation that Spring Training is something like an audition is laughable. For one, all of these players are already under contract and are employees of their team. On top of that, every ballplayer is auditioning for their job every single day they take the field. But as Berg notes in his article Ricky Vaughn Jersey , the minor league players are mostly there to fill in for the major league players where needed. They’re there to help the major leaguers warm up. They are there to play three innings because their team doesn’t want its stars playing more than five innings and risking injury. Basically, they are not there for themselves. The days of a minor league coming to Spring Training and showing the brass what they can do is long gone. The teams have scouts and cameras at every minor league game a player plays in. The front office and coaches already know what they can do. How they perform in a meaningless game against generally sub-major-league competition is not going to earn the vast majority of them a trip north with the major league team when Spring Training ends. If they do earn a trip north, it has more to do with what the player did the previous minor league season than what they did in Arizona or Florida in March.There was a bill to legally exempt Spring Training for Arizona’s minimum wage laws was introduced in the Arizona state legislature last year, although it appears to have died without reaching the floor. But this effort is no doubt part of MLB’s efforts to exempt minor leaguers from all labor laws, including minimum wage laws, as seen in the “Save America’s Pastime Act” that was snuck through Congress and signed into law as part of a giant spending bill. Obviously this problem could be solved through collective bargaining, but the Players Association is stuck in a bind. They could ask for Spring Training to be fully paid, but if they did so, the owners would demand a concession from the players in exchange. The MLBPA is understandably reluctant to ask their members to sacrifice something in exchange for something that would primarily benefit non-members. That’s not what unions generally do. But someone has to raise this issue. And shame on MLB and the MLBPA if they don’t do the right thing by the minor leaguers that work so hard for a chance to play in the majors. Or in many cases, work so hard so that the major leaguers can be better players. But Spring Training is big business. Fans spend millions of dollars every spring to see their heroes take the field and almost none of that money goes to the players. Remember that the next time you watch the Cubs play this spring. ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani gave yet another glimpse of what he could do at the plate just hours after announcing he planned to undergo Tommy John surgery and return next season only as a hitter.Ohtani’s bat was broken by a Yovani Gallardo slider, but he was strong enough to punch it into center for a single that tied the score and ignite a four-run rally Tuesday to lead the Angels to a 4-1 comeback over the Texas Rangers.Ohtani, Justin Upton Michael Brantley Jersey , Taylor Ward and Kaleb Cowart all pushed in runs for the Angels.Despite being something of a sensation the first half of the season, Ohtani said he doesn’t feel he has proven he is a legitimate two-way player.“It’s been a small sample size with just one season, so can’t really say I proved to the world that I can continue being a two-way player,” Ohtani said.Texas’ Joey Gallo proved his 40-homer season last year was no fluke, hitting his 40th of this season off Matt Shoemaker in the third. Gallo has three more homers than singles (37) this season.Gallo became the fourth Rangers player to have back-to-back 40-homer seasons.“To do that, and to stay healthy all year, that’s hard to do,” Gallo said. “You’re playing 162 games, and the second year is always toughest. I knew there would be a dip with people making adjustments so it wasn’t something where I said ‘I’m going to hit 40 again no problem.’ “Gallardo (8-7) looked like he might make the lone run hold up, holding the Angels scoreless on three hits through five innings.But it all went wrong in the sixth. Kole Calhoun led off with a double, and after he advanced to third on a groundout, Mike Trout was walked intentionally.That led to Ohtani’s single off reliever Martin Perez, before third baseman Jurickson Profar’s throwing error on a grounder by Upton allowed Trout to score.The Angels scored another run after shortstop Elvis Andrus and second baseman Roughed Odor collided going for an Andrelton Simmons bouncer up the middle to load the bases. Ward walked to force in a run.Cowart lofted a deep sacrifice fly to left that scored Upton and the Angels had a 4-1 lead.TRAINER’S ROOMRangers: LHP Mike Minor has been shut down for the season. Used exclusively as a reliever by the Royals last season http://www.indiansfanproshop.com/authentic-b.j.-upton-jersey , he emerged as the Rangers’ most effective starter. He went 12-8 with a 4.18 ERA in 28 starts. The 30-year-old Minor threw 157 innings and that was simply deemed enough for this season.Angels: Ohtani has decided to have Tommy John surgery next week in Los Angeles by Dr. Neal ElAttrache. The announcement was expected and Angels manager Mike Scioscia confirmed it means Ohtani will not pitch next season.OHTANI THE HITTERThe two-way star admitted to frustration at not being able to continue as a pitcher next season.“I am disappointed that I’m not going to be able to pitch next season, but I try to take positive out of negative things,” he said. “Normal (pitchers) won’t be able to play at all next season, but fortunately I’ll play as a hitter.”Ohtani said he was uncertain if he would be ready to hit by opening day: “There’s no really set date, it’s going to depend on how the rehab goes and if there are no setbacks. I’ll have an update every four weeks or so after the surgery. I can’t give a timetable at this point.”SHOEMAKER STRONGThe right-hander gave up only the solo homer to Gallo in his five innings, allowing four hits and striking out seven without a walk. It was the best of his five starts since returning following forearm surgery that forced him to miss most of the season.It was likely his final start of the season.“I don’t know if there’s any more Show has to show this year,” Scioscia said.Said Shoemaker: “Just build off that, go into the offseason and keep getting better.”UP NEXTRangers: LHP Yohander Mendez (2-2, 6.04 ERA) is scheduled to start Wednesday in the series finale. He will be making his fifth career start after allowing a career-high in runs (eight) and hits (nine) in his last start against the Rays.Angels: LHP Andrew Heaney (9-10, 4.21) will attempt to even his record in his final start of the season. He’ll have to do it against a Rangers team he’s gone 1-3 against with a 7.50 ERA against in six career starts.