Cheri Bustos of Illinois and Brett Guthrie of Kentucky introduced the “Save America’s Pastime Act” in late June. H.R. 5580 proposes to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and create a specific exemption for minor league baseball players (who are not unionized) so that they are explicitly not guaranteed the minimum wage, and thus not allowed overtime pay.

Minor leaguers are professional athletes, so they’re never going to get widespread sympathy from the public, but MiLB’s wage structure is set up such that that they can barely earn a living while playing. 

Here are some key points that make this proposed bill absurd:

Minor leaguers are paid by the MLB parent teams—not the minor league teams; all minor leaguers’ salaries start at $1,100 per month and are only paid during the season; minor leaguers are not paid during spring training, instructional leagues, etc.; most minor leaguers make less than $7,500 per year; minor league salaries have only increased 75% since 1976, but inflation is over 400% during that time period; MLB is a $9.5 billion industry; minor league baseball itself has been setting attendance records for 10 straight years, with over 42 million paid customers per year; minor league baseball gains over $60 million per year from merchandise alone, and none of that goes back to the players.