Instead of stepping up to the plate to help their employees during this trying time, the Tampa Bay Rays are the first team in Major League Baseball team to furlough full-time staffers due to the coronavirus pandemic. The team is also cutting the pay of full-time employees who were not furloughed.
Nearly all the other 29 teams in the major leagues have publicly committed to paying their baseball operations staff through the end of May.
It isn’t all bad news, as the team is still going to cover the costs of health insurance for anyone who is furloughed and may offer assistance for anyone facing significant financial hardships, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
The Rays have between 400-500 full-time employees and “considerably less” than half are reportedly being furloughed. The furloughs, which begin on Saturday, are believed to be temporary. The Rays are worth just north of $1 billion, according to Forbes.
The team has consistently struggled to draw fans or capture interest in Tampa and finished 29th in MLB with an average attendance of 14,734 in 2019. Team owner Stuart Sternberg plans to have his club split its home games between Tampa Bay and Montreal starting in 2028 after the organization’s stadium deal with the city of St. Petersburg expires.
The Rays beat the A’s in the American League Wild Card game before losing to the Astros in the division series last season.
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