NEW YORK — The union for Major League Baseball players gave $50,000 to their ununionized minor league counterparts.
The payment was made in November 2021, according to the annual financial disclosure dated March 31 and filed by the Major League Baseball Players Association with the U.S. Labor Department.
Players on 40-man major league rosters are represented by the union and have a minimum salary of $700,000 in the major leagues and $57,200 for a player in the minors under his first big league contract. For ununionized players with minor league contracts, the weekly minimum is $500 per week at Class A, $600 at Double-A and $700 at Triple-A over the roughly five-month season.
The union paid $2,223,064 in 2021 to Winston & Strawn, the law firm of Jeffrey Kessler. The firm was retained to represent the union in the grievance against MLB over the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, a case that was dropped last month as part of the memorandum of agreement for a labor contract running until December 2026, a deal that ended a 99-day lockout.
The union had $271.2 million in cash, U.S. Treasury securities and investments on Dec. 31, up from $178.5 million at the end of 2020, $159.5 million at the end of 2019, $102.4 million at the end of 2018 and $80.1 million at the end of 2017. The union usually prepares for bargaining by withholding licensing money due to players and keeping it available to disburse during or after a stoppage.
Union head Tony Clark again topped staff with a $2.25 million salary, and chief negotiator Bruce Meyer was at $1 million.
The union did not give any money in 2021 to the Players Trust, which last year hired Amy Hever as its new director.