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The Miami Marlins had to stop their idea of having a “practice squad” after Major League Baseball got wind of the potentially illegal activity. This latest smackdown by MLB on the Marlins comes as the team is still $20 million under the luxury tax payroll required by the league’s agreement with the players union.
According to Andy McCullough and Sam Blum of The Athletic, MLB officials contacted the Marlins about the practice squad idea after an ad, which was posted on a Marlins’ minor-league operation staffer’s LinkedIn page, began being passed around on social media over the weekend. The ad offered non-professional baseball players a chance to play against the Marlins’ Low-A affiliate in Jupiter, Fla. for $150 a day.
The Miami Marlins’ “practice squad” plan was in violation of the new collective bargaining agreement covering the minor leagues. Minor league players were required to make a $26,200 minimum annual salary in Low-A and a $19,800 minimum annual salary in rookie-ball complex leagues during the 2024 season. $150 a day for a “practice squad” player is well under those already poverty-level incomes.
The post, which has since been deleted, proposed the practice squad could act as a pipeline to the professional ranks. A Marlins official indicated the organization had not fully vetted the ad before publication.
“I just think someone ran too quickly with it before getting it finalized,” the Marlins official said, adding, “We’re getting to the end of spring training here, and deadlines push action.”
The Miami Marlins have repeatedly been the subject of grievances filed by the MLB Players Association for not meeting the minimum required payroll. Not that Major League Baseball has done anything about it. Two grievances, filed in 2017 and 2018, have still not been settled. A third grievance, filed in 2010, resulted in Major League Baseball forcing the Marlins to increase their payroll, which, of course, didn’t last.
The Miami Herald reports that “a non-Marlins source briefed on the situation, the Marlins do not intend to start spending millions to increase their payroll. They do not believe they are at serious risk of losing a grievance in part because of the wording of the labor agreement.”
That, and the fact that two previous grievances filed by the MLBPA forced the Marlins to do absolutely nothing.
In February, Marlins owner Bruce Sherman tried to defend his club’s complete lack of spending on players.
“We’ve signed — not the big name free agents, but we’ve signed many free agents,” he claimed. “We have done more trades than almost any club in baseball. We have an incredible crew of young talent that’s going to emerge for multiple years.
“We made a significant investment, not only in the front office staff in technology, but we’ve also done a tremendous amount to improve the ability of the players to perform. We’re putting a tremendous amount of resources in loanDepot. You haven’t seen any of this, but we’re going to have the second-biggest weight training facility in all of baseball for our players. Our training doesn’t stop at the major league level. We’ve added levels into the organization that we’ve never had before.”