Pirates in predicament of paying employees but possibly reducing salaries

With no set return for baseball in sight amid the coronavirus crisis and despite MLB commissioner Rob Manfred giving teams the green light to furlough or lay off employees, the Pittsburgh Pirates committed Tuesday to pay their baseball operations staff through May.

Pirates president Travis Williams announced the club is exploring the possibility of tiered salary reductions that would start with the highest-paid members of the front office and coaching staff taking the largest percentage of a potential pay cut.

“There is obviously a lot of uncertainty and speculation around the 2020 season,” Williams said in a statement. “While the league is looking at multiple scenarios, each represents a significant negative impact to our operations. As has been the case throughout this rapidly-changing crisis, we are working hard to minimize its effect on our employees.”

Manfred reportedly plans to suspend the Uniform Employees Contract on May 1, which would allow teams to furlough or lay off employees in the absence of baseball. Teams are losing revenue without games, ticket, concession and merchandise sales and the broadcasting and licensing profits from sponsors and television contracts.

Williams and Pirates general manager Ben Cherington led a conference call with the organization’s managers, coaches, scouts and training staff Tuesday morning to discuss the impact covid-19 could have on the club and its plans for dealing with possible cutbacks.

Pirates first-year manager Derek Shelton commended Williams and Cherington for being “extremely clear” with how they want to handle business matters amid the coronavirus crisis. Shelton said he was “assuming” highly compensated employees will have some salary reduction, adding “I’m more than happy to do that for us to sustain and move forward” before managing a regular-season game at the major league level.

“We’re in unprecedented times, and unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures,” Shelton said. “The fact that we have to make adjustments in how we’re doing it, then I’m all for in it. Our staff is very excited to be here, to be Pirates. On that part of it, I commend those guys for the work they’re doing.”

That could cause an interesting dilemma for Pirates owner Bob Nutting, who might be forced to reduce the salaries of Williams, Cherington and Shelton while still paying the contracts owed to the likes of former general manager Neal Huntington and manager Clint Hurdle, who were fired after a 93-loss season in 2019.

The Pirates also are planning for financial losses even if baseball does return this summer, as MLB has flirted with the possibility of playing games in empty stadiums at spring training sites in Arizona and Florida instead of their host cities and stadiums such as PNC Park.

“Part of what makes this situation so difficult is that nobody truly knows with absolute certainty what the short-term and long-term outlook will be moving forward,” Williams said. “The coronavirus and its impact on our community and our sport evolves by the day.

“We wish that we didn’t have to have these conversations, but they have become necessary as this crisis continues to impact our operations. We will always keep the best interests of our employees and the organization in mind, and continue doing everything we can to support our community.”