Baseball Umpires Debate Pay Cuts Caused By Delayed Start To Season

It’s all uncharted territory.

Trying to get the 2020 baseball season started during a raging pandemic is like trying to negotiate a minefield without stepping on a trip-wire.

Health is the main factor, with almost all concerned agreeing that spectators would be barred from ballparks no matter when and where games resume.

But money is an issue too, with Major League Baseball and its Players Association needing to negotiate new deals on how much athletes would receive if game-day revenue from spectators is eliminated as a team revenue source.

Umpires are in the same boat, with their salaries also subject to reduction by MLB under a schedule certain to be shortened from the usual 162-game format.

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, umpires held an eight-hour Zoom conference call this week to discuss what the league labeled its “best and final” proposal.

Under normal conditions, senior umpires earn less than the player minimum salary of $563,500 and rookie umps barely clear six figures, though arbiters also receive licensing payments, regular-season per diems, post-season bonuses, spring training pay, and a pension after retirement.

Because they are paid every month of the year, umpires have already earned one-third of their pay – covering the months from January through April. But they won’t earn much more if the 2020 season is cancelled.

The current offer from MLB would cover only half of their May salary and nothing beyond that, giving them just four-and-a-half months of their expected pay had the season been played in full.

Should play resume, perhaps between Memorial Day and July 4, salaries, bonuses, and even per diem rates for umpires would be reduced according to a pro-rated formula based upon the number of games played.

Terms of the offer, according to The Athletic, include pro-rating of umpire salaries but a 15 per cent increase for a second spring training that would precede any resumption of play; a pro-rated reduction in the $38,500 postseason bonus all umpires receive; a cut in the per diem from $500 to $400 because of lower negotiated hotel rates; and a one-year suspension of the $210,000 royalty licensing fee to be paid to the umpires’ union.

Unchanged would be umpire health benefits and service time, including retirement plans.

The 76 current full-time umpires would have earned some $37.6 million this year if not for the interruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. By contrast, players earn more than $4 billion in salaries alone.

Umpires selected to work postseason games earn additional bonuses, ranging from $13,200 for the single wild-card game to $31,350 for the World Series, no matter how many games it takes.

According to Rosenthal, some umpires see the cuts as excessive while others worry that both the league and the public will unleash a negative backlash if they reject the MLB offer.

The union did agree on one thing: rather than file a grievance over the issue of half-pay for May, it voted to draft a “hold letter” designed to buy time before a formal vote on the proposal is held.

Although baseball earned nearly $11 billion last year, teams and players have been suffering heavy losses since the sport suspended spring training on March 12.

The umpires union agreed to accept a 20 per cent reduction in compensation but stands to lose much more – and not gain it back in the event universal prosperity returns.

Protecting umpire job security is one of the big sticking points in deciding whether to accept or reject the MLB offer. Fewer umpires would be needed, for example, if instant replay – and the need for an umpiring crew to review video of close plays in New York – were eliminated because Manhattan is a COVID-19 danger zone.

The bottom line is simple: baseball needs umpires as well as players. It just needs to strike deals that nobody likes but all can accept.