Report: LA Angels likely to start furloughing employees

The Los Angeles Angels are expected to furlough employees in wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

After a delayed start to the season due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim tried to secure as many jobs as possible through the first two months of the postponement. However, with revenues still likely a few months from restarting, the team is being forced to reevaluate their plans.

According to Jon Heyman of MLB.com, the Angels are among a number of teams that are likely to begin furloughing employees in June. The team is said to still be considering options, but it appears that they are leaning toward the step of reducing its non-player salary commitments.

As it currently stands, only the Miami Marlins have acknowledged plans of a workforce reduction, including full-time employees in baseball operations, stadium operations, and more. Under those plans, the employees will no longer collect a salary from the team, but the teams will continue to pay toward their health benefits through October.

The Seattle Mariners are also making cuts, but are doing so across the board for any employees collecting more than $60k per year. Those employees will take a 20% pay cut rather than outright losing their jobs.

This is obviously disheartening for Angels employees, especially in light of the season potentially beginning in early July. However, the magnitude of the situation is that the owners are losing millions already without games in either April or May, and stand to lose more without fans in attendance for any games in 2020. That remains a key discussion point as the owners and players try to come to an agreement on salaries in a shortened season, with the owners wanting players to accept a straight revenue share rather than pro-rated salaries in 2020, something the MLBPA has said was already the agreement.

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According to Forbes, the Angels entered the 2020 season worth approximately $1.975 billion, ranking them 9th in overall valuation. Despite the lockdown, that represented a 4% increase over the team’s market value in 2019.