Around the Empire: Yankees news - 6/2/20

CBS New York: Count the New York Yankees among the teams that have not provided financial stability for every member of their minor league system. The team yesterday released more than forty minor league players. While few, if any, of these players will be severely missed from a player development standpoint, they nonetheless do not deserve to find themselves without the $400 a week stipend that they have been receiving from the team: there is currently no opportunity for them to latch onto another team (be it an affiliated or independent minor league squad), few jobs are available, and unemployment services are strained to the breaking point.

ESPN | Jeff Passan: Major League Baseball has internally discussed the possibility of a 50-60 game season with full pro-rated salaries, according to reports. The league believes that, according to the terms of the April agreement with the MLBPA, commissioner Rob Manfred has the right to unilaterally schedule the season following “good faith” discussions to start up the season. Believed to be a last-ditch option if negotiations between the league and union fall through, the pro-rated salaries would see players receive only 30% of their intended salaries. According to Passan, the league has pushed for the shorter season both due to their claims of financial deficits during fanless games and an attempt to avoid games during the anticipated second wave of the coronavirus outbreak.

NJ.com | Brendan Kuty: A players’ union representative has told NJ Advance Media that the union has privately stated that they do not want to play anything less than half a season. Considering the new proposed schedule a sign that the owners “aren’t even negotiating,” the insider reports that the union believes that their proposed expanded playoff would generate between $700 million and $1 billion in revenue for the league. Furthermore, ownership has not yet provided the union with documentation proving their alleged financial duress. It’s going to be a long summer, isn’t it?

NJ.com | Mike Rosenstein: In positive baseball news, Luis Severino’s rehab from Tommy John surgery has been going well. The Yankees starter, who has been in Tampa rehabbing since his surgery three months ago, remains on track to begin throwing again this summer. On top of that, he remains aware of what’s going on in the country, writing that not being able to play in 2020 “is frustrating, but this year has been a frustrating year for everybody...right now, there are more things to worry about than playing baseball.”