Albert Pujols to pay salaries of Angels’ furloughed staff in Dominican Republic

Albert Pujols made headlines on Thursday, and for all the right reasons. Earlier this month, the Angels announced that they will stop paying their employees in the Dominican Republic.

According to Maria Torres of the Los Angeles TImes, Pujols, who is from the Dominican Republic, said that he will be paying the salaries of the furloughed staff member of the Angels for roughly five months. The estimated total is about $180,000.

As mentioned earlier, the Angels some of the most severe budget cuts in Major League Baseball earlier this month. This is from the Los Angeles Times.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they furloughed all area scouts in amateur and international departments, members of their player development staff and minor league coaches and coordinators. They were planning to furlough cross-checkers but reversed course this week when MLB lifted a ban on in-person scouting.

The Angels’ operations in the Dominican Republic were hit hard. Nearly all staff based at the team’s academy in Boca Chica, which is where most international prospects begin their professional careers, were temporarily removed from the payroll. One person who spoke on the condition of anonymity estimated about 90% of employees were affected.

Pujols can definitely afford it, as he has made more than a quarter of a billion dollars during his career. Nevertheless, this is a very generous move from the 40-year-old, and is something that will help save a lot of workers’ jobs. Hopefully more players can see the generosity and follow suit.

We’ve seen other players do something similar, as a few weeks ago. David Price of the Dodgers pledged $1,000 to each Dodgers minor league player for the month of June after the team committed to continue paying them a $400 weekly stipend during the same period.

Links

• The MLBPA delivered a 70-game counterproposal to the MLB. There’s no deal yet, but there is definitely progress.
• Angels Top Prospect Jo Adell Drops Real Talk on Difference Between White and Black MLB Players’ Scouting Reports
• Hall of Famer Rod Carew suggests MLB should cancel 2020 season: ‘I don’t see why they want to play’
• Baseball America gave their draft analysis for all 30 teams. What did they have to say about how the Dodgers drafted?