The Boston Red Sox last month cut the salaries of all team employees earning $50,000 or more. Those pay cuts will remain in effect through the end of the 2020 calendar year despite Major League Baseball restarting its 2020 season in July.
“When we did our pay reductions, we announced a timeframe which was to the end of 2020,” Red Sox president Sam Kennedy said during a Zoom call Wednesday. “So that plan remains in place.”
MLB suspended its season March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier this week, owners and players finalized a deal for a 60-game regular season that will begin July 23-24. Players will report to spring training 2.0 on July 1.
The Athletic’s Evan Drellich reported last month that the organization’s pay cuts were tiered with employees earning between $50,000 to $100,000 receiving a 20% cut, employees making between $100,000 to $500,000 receiving a 25% cut and anyone earning more than $500,000 receiving a 30% cut.
“We don’t anticipate any changes beyond what we’ve already done,” Kennedy said. “Part of the excitement about baseball returning is there are so many people who work in the game — our incredible scouts, front office, the folks in analytics, the folks in ticket sales — and also our neighbors in the Fenway area, small businesses. That’s another reason why getting fans back at the ballpark is so important — for the bars, the restaurants, the retail establishments in the area. So the economic engine that is the industry of Major League Baseball is really important. It’s another very positive thing about the game returning.”
The Red Sox will start the 2020 regular season without fans in the stands. But Kennedy remains hopeful fans will be allowed to attend games at some point.
“We need fans at Fenway Park,” Kennedy said. “Our fans give us a competitive advantage. I can tell you there are clubs around Major League Baseball that are anticipating having fans in their ballparks. It’s an incredibly important part of our business and an incredibly important part of our baseball operation, so we would like to get to that point. I can’t tell you when that would happen. We are working through the protocols that would be required to pursue that opportunity someday in the future.”
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