Former MLB 1st-round pick slams minor-league salary as 'a crime'

A spending bill which President Donald Trump must sign before Friday reportedly includes a provision to continue to suppress the salaries of minor-league baseball players, and former MLB first-round pick and current minor-leaguer Slade Heathcott is becoming outspoken on the matter:

The pay for minor leaguers in their first 5 years is a crime... I’ll stand up and say it. Players are paid half the year and most of the time during season pay for all living costs. Justified by you signed the contract....it’s a game and yes it’s a dream doesn’t make it right. pic.twitter.com/j8OS7pbuUj
— Slade Heathcott (@heathcott_slade) March 22, 2018

Heathcott, now 27, was a first-round pick in the 2009 MLB Draft, going 29th overall to the New York Yankees. He made his major-league debut in 2015, playing 17 games and hitting two home runs. However, the outfielder has not played in the majors since and most recently signed a minor-league deal with the Oakland Athletics.

Earlier this week, a report surfaced suggesting the bill would contain a provision to make minor-league baseball players exempt from the protection of minimum wage. On Thursday, Maury Brown of Forbes received a draft of the provision, which is reportedly titled the Save America's Pastime Act.

Minor League Baseball players are about to become second-class citizens. Remember, MLB sets the salaries, not the Minors. This rider is within the budget bill that would be signed on Friday. It has the flagrantly inappropriate title of “Save America’s Pastime Act”. pic.twitter.com/ptQFxCvosh
— Maury Brown (@BizballMaury) March 22, 2018

According to Brown, the provision, which could be enacted by the end of the week, would end several lawsuits filed by minor leaguers - who are paid as little as $1,100 per month for half the year - arguing they are not being remunerated equitably under the law.