The push to unionize the minor leagues didn’t begin Sunday when the MLBPA sent out authorization cards, says Tony Clark. In an interview with emmabaccellieri, the MLBPA director discusses what this could mean for baseball
. As part of the process, the MLBPA announced it had absorbed the staff of the nonprofit Advocates for Minor Leagues, a group that had previously been rallying to improve minor league working conditions and pay.This conversation has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.Well, I think it’s a combination of a number of things. Most importantly, the players themselves were interested in this discussion at this time.
SI: In other sports with minor league unions, there may be a working relationship with the major league union, but they’re not represented by the major league union. What was the thinking behind the MLBPA wanting to take this on—not just to assist in organizing the minors but to actually be the representative body?With our fraternity, the structure that we’re talking about is the one that we thought made the most sense, and the players believed made the most sense, both now and moving forward.
SI: You mentioned education there. I know you had Zooms with minor leaguers yesterday. What were those conversations like, and what sort of questions were you answering?It’s interesting. There’s this belief that it happened overnight. There's been ongoing communication and dialogue and education, and I highlighted Advocates earlier—they have done a tremendous job in doing all of that. The communications that we've had—over a longer period than perhaps most are aware—have ranged.
SI: And what has the reaction been from major league players? You brought up the player committee right there—what have you gotten from them on what it means to try to welcome minor leaguers into the fold?The major league players—the vast majority of them haven't forgotten what it was like coming through the minor leagues. The major league players view all professional players as a part of a baseball fraternity. And so this is personal to them, too.
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