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Report: MLB wants better salaries, living conditions, transportation in minors

Mark J. Rebilas / USA TODAY Sports

Major League Baseball suggested a significant salary increase, better living conditions, and improved transportation when it met with the group overseeing the minor leagues, sources told Jeff Passan of ESPN.

The collective-bargaining session took place within the last month, around the same time the Toronto Blue Jays were putting together a new wage scale for minor leaguers in their system, according to Passan.

"We have received many questions regarding the decision of the Toronto Blue Jays to increase the salaries of minor-league players," MLB said in a statement to ESPN.

"While each club makes its own decisions regarding minor-league salaries, the Office of the Commissioner is presently in negotiations with the National Association of Professional Baseball on the terms of a new agreement between the Major Leagues and the Minor Leagues to replace the agreement that expires in September 2020. The working conditions of minor-league players, including their compensation, facilities and benefits, is an important area of discussion."

Passan notes that players at Class-A affiliates are paid as little as $1,160 per month, while those in their first season at Triple-A earn just $2,150. Those salaries don't include clubhouse dues and taxes.

Players in the minors don't make overtime pay because Congress exempted teams last spring from paying more than the $7.25 minimum wage for a 40-hour work week.

The reported push by the league caught the attention of Washington Nationals closer Sean Doolittle, who tweeted: "This is good for the game of baseball."

"This conversation is long overdue but it's great that we're talking about taking better care of minor leaguers," Doolittle wrote. "I hope they get a seat at the bargaining table to participate in it and have their voices heard."

The 32-year-old left-hander was drafted out of high school in 2004 by the Atlanta Braves but decided to play at the University of Virginia. He was then picked in the first round in 2007 by the Oakland Athletics. He didn't make his MLB debut until the age of 25 in 2012.

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