$10 Million Commitment To Players’ Alliance From MLB/MLBPA Signals Step Toward Greater Diversity In Baseball

The Players’ Alliance, a group of Black current and former Major League Baseball players, is only a few months old, but it is already leaving a stamp on the game.

Nearly a month ago, this cadre of players came together to donate their salaries on Jackie Robinson Day — held on August 28 this season — to forward initiatives that would support the growth of baseball in underrepresented communities.

On Monday, they were the recipients of a $10 million donation from Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players’ Association to give a further boost to their efforts.

That sum will be distributed over the course of the next five years, and it will be aimed toward increasing Black participation in baseball, both on the field and in off-the-field roles with teams.

This donation comes at a crucial time for the Players’ Alliance. Curtis Granderson, the Alliance president and 16-year MLB veteran, told the New York Times
NYT
that before receiving it, the group’s funding was very low; a natural struggle for an initiative in its beginning stages.

“As the stark racial minority in all aspects of our game, The Players Alliance has given a voice and platform to our Black players, unified in our stance against systemic racism,” Granderson told ESPN. “We stand together for what is right and to change our game for the better. The power of our player membership, including our non-Black teammates, coupled with the support of MLB and the Players Association, gives us the unique ability to create increased opportunities for the Black communities we care so much about.”

One of the primary aims of the Alliance and of the donation from MLB is to give a boost to already-existing programs that help guide Black youth toward baseball and to potentially create more in areas where there are none.

Of the more than 800 players on active opening day rosters, only 67 were Black. The number of Black players on active MLB rosters has been trending downward for many years since a peak in the early 1980s when it was just under 20 percent of the league.

“MLB and the union have rolled out programs historically, and some have been great and some have obviously needed to have a little bit of assistance to them,” Granderson told the Times. “We, as the players — the market you have been targeting — some of us have gone through these programs or have started very similar programs, so we can be a great resource to take the programs that are already good and make them better, or introduce some new ones.”

One impediment to many amateur players is the increasingly high cost of travel baseball and the kind of showcases and tournaments run by outfits like Perfect Game. Many young baseball players either cannot afford to participate or live too far away from areas where they can be seen by scouts and college coaches. One of the goals of the Alliance is to help break down those kinds of barriers.

The Alliance also plans to help with initiatives that would improve the diversity in baseball’s front offices and managerial roles. Only two teams have Black heads of baseball operations, and only two have Black managers.

“Major League Baseball is committed to enacting positive changes within our sport to mirror those we hope to see in society,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in a news release. “We believe that the efforts led by The Players Alliance will complement existing diversity initiatives and accelerate progress that will be beneficial for our game.”