The Angels are coming under fire a little bit this week, as the Anaheim-based team announced a hefty load of furloughs for employees. While most MLB franchises continue to pay out there employees and commit to longer-term deals, the Angels were the quickest to jump ship. Let’s check out the news from around the league this week.
Top News This Week
- Aaron Judge’s girlfriend might have caused a little bit of embarrassment this week, when a video of her bring arrested was released. The 26-year-old Samantha Bracksieck was pulled over in February for a DUI arrest and continued to name drop Judge throughout the course of the arrest.
- Mets’ pitcher Noah Syndergaard is being sued in a Manhattan federal court after missing payments on a $27,000 apartment he rented in New York. The landlord is seeking the $250,000 that is owed as a part of the 8-month lease, which Syndergaard reportedly tried to opt-out of.
- Major League Baseball is set to present it’s new economic plans to the player’s union this coming Tuesday. This will be a pivotal moment in the negotiation process to get baseball going again, and we should know more about whether or not the season will happen right after this.
- On this day, we celebrate and commemorate that time that the Dodgers’ Shawn Green went wild at the plate. Exactly 18 years ago today, Green went 6-for-6 with 4 HRs and a double. His 19 total bases that game are still an MLB record.
Social News
Speaking of the Angels furloughing their staff, the team insists it’s not EVERYONE that’s getting tossed. Some supervisors within the scouting division are not being furloughed…until mid-June. The move has not been popular in the baseball community and among fans.
Technically, while the Angels are furloughing all US amateur scouts before the June 10 draft (on June 1) the 9 supervisors and cross checkers are not being furloughed until after the draft June 16, via @Ken_Rosenthal. Still seems to be a small savings for rich, improving club https://t.co/BenYBb9Zt6
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 23, 2020
Keeping with the theme of furloughs, let’s take a look at all of the teams who treat their employees better than the Angels do.
Good news for #MNTwins employees, according to a source: Team is committed to paying full salaries and benefits through June 30. No furloughs, not even for interns.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) May 21, 2020
Another team committed to keeping and paying employees through June 30, same as below: #STLCards. https://t.co/TSifCtOTbo
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) May 21, 2020
More good news, this time from the Milwaukee Brewers: They committed to paying all baseball-ops employees below director level in full for the rest of the season and will not furlough, sources tell ESPN. Pay cuts taken by top executives and ML staff saved lower-level employees.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 22, 2020
#BlueJays have committed to paying all full-time employees through Oct. 1, a club source says. No furloughs or terminations related to COVID-19.
— John Lott (@JohnCLott1) May 22, 2020
All of that news and more, this week in MLB! Check back weekly with GMS Sports for the most up-to-date information on your favorite sports.