New York Yankees, a franchise worth $5B, cuts 45 minor leaguers

On Monday, the New York Yankees, a $5B franchise cut 45 minor leaguers, but why?

In some cases, you can understand why certain MLB franchises feel the need to make cuts during these times. When it’s the New York Yankees, however, a team worth $5,000,000,000 and the 2nd richest sports team in the world, you have to scratch your head a little.

It happened on Monday, amidst massive cuts across the league by a number of teams, the Yankees cut 45 minor leaguers of their own, according to Brendan Kuty of NJ Advance Media.

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People noticed and wondered, just as I’m doing now, why?

@CHoblerATC rhetorically asked Kuty, “and how much are they paying Gerrit Cole per game???” on twitter. Well, assuming the season had never been canceled and he started 30 games, the answer would be $1,200,000 per start.

If you’re wondering how much the Yanks pay the 336 minor leaguers not on the 40-man roster cumulatively? They pay them approximately $134,400 per week. That’s about 11% of what Cole would have made per start and .003% of the team’s total net worth.

As fans, it’s difficult for us to understand how a franchise such as the Yankees can justify these types of cuts. Some might say that they did it in preparation for the June amateur draft, which is only partially true.

However, this year’s draft will be limited to just five rounds, and in a normal year, “they cut at least a handful of players,” according to Kuty.

It looks even worse when the Kansas City Royals, a franchise worth about a fifth of what the Yankees are worth, vowed not to release any minor-league players during this time. That’s even with the draft fast approaching.

With over 40 million Americans having claimed unemployment benefits, you have to wonder why the New York Yankees would part ways with players who will essentially have nowhere to turn to in order to make a living. I mean the $400 weekly stipend is the least the Yanks, and any other MLB team could do for these players.

Instead, the taxpayers will be left to take the hit for the billionaires.

All we can do now is demand answers and let it be known in the next CBA that moving forward, this will not be accepted. Shame on them!