About 370 players who were at big league spring training with minor league contracts will get advance payments of up to $50,000 each from the Major League Baseball Players Association.
The money approved Friday by the union’s executive board will be in addition to $400 weekly allowances being paid to all minor leaguers through May 31 by the Major League Baseball.
Among the players eligible for payments from Friday’s allocation are Félix Hernández, Matt Kemp, Pablo Sandoval, Neil Walker, Derek Holland, Jerry Blevins, Edwin Jackson, Chris Iannetta, Brandon Morrow, Jonathan Lucroy and Trevor Cahill.
Miami Marlins outfielder Matt Kemp (27) looks on during spring training baseball practice in Jupiter, Fla., Monday, Feb. 17, 2020. (David SantiagoMiami Herald via AP)
Players can receive $5,000 if they have at least one day or major league service. The amount increases to $7,500 for one year of service, $15,000 for two, $25,000 for three and $50,000 for six.
Any player may opt out of the money, which is being advanced against salaries. Players are eligible if they were at spring training on March 13, the day after play stopped.
Veteran big leaguers who go to spring training with minor league deals usually are trying to earn big league roster spots, agreements that leave teams with little financial exposure. Most players find out during the final week of spring training whether they will be added to a 40-man roster.
San Francisco Giants' Pablo Sandoval slides safe into home ahead of the tag from Arizona Diamondbacks' John Hicks during the fifth inning of a spring training baseball game, Monday, March 2, 2020, in Scottsdale, Ariz.(AP PhotoDarron Cummings)
Players on 40-man rosters, 60-man injured lists and on outright assignments to the minor leagues with big league deals are covered by the March 26 agreement between MLB and the union. They each will receive $286,500, $60,000, $30,000 or $15,000, depending on their contract. That money comes from a $170 million advance fund paid by MLB over what was to have been the season's first 60 days.
If games are played this year, that money would be offset against salaries. If the season is scrapped, players would keep the advances.
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AMSTERDAM (AP) — Maximilian Ibrahimović is moving from one club his father used to play for, and going to another.
The 19-year-old winger, the son of soccer great Zlatan Ibrahimović, joined Ajax on loan from AC Milan on Wednesday.
“It’s cool that he also played for Ajax. I am happy that I have the opportunity to play here also and to develop," Maximilian Ibrahimović said.
“I want to write my own story. I am my own person, my own player, I am here to do my own thing. And I am really looking forward to that.”
Zlatan Ibrahimović currently serves as senior adviser to Milan’s American owners — acting as the key link between them and the club’s sporting operations, including player development — and would have had a significant part in his son’s move.
Italian media reports said Ajax has paid Milan 3.5 million euros ($4 million) for the loan until the end of the season, when the Dutch club will have the option to make the deal permanent.
“We are very pleased with the arrival of Maximilian," said Marijn Beuker, Ajax's director of football. "He is a talented forward with a good sense of positioning in and around the penalty area, and he has strong goal-oriented finishing.
"He is skillful with his dribbling and, above all, has a great winner’s mentality and training attitude.”
The Swede has progressed through the youth teams at Milan but has never played for the senior team, although he was part of the squad that traveled to Saudi Arabia for the Italian Super Cup last month.
He has scored five goals in 16 matches for Milan Futuro this season.
“He will initially mainly get his playing minutes with Ajax U23 and will regularly move between Ajax U23 and the first team during the season, so that he can get used to the higher level and the intensity of Ajax 1," Beuker said.
"Maximilian is a player with a lot of potential, and we hope that in time he can become a permanent part of Ajax 1’s attack.”
Zlatan Ibrahimović played for Ajax from 2001-2005, netting 48 goals in 110 appearances and winning the Dutch league twice as well as the KNVB Cup.
The talismanic forward scored 93 goals in 163 appearances over two spells at Milan, winning two Serie A titles and the Italian Super Cup.
"Ibrahimović is just a name. I am just Maximilian," the younger Ibrahimović said. “If I cared about my name then it would be all wrong, it wouldn’t even be fun to play if I would always compare myself. I don’t even think I look like him.”
Zlatan's other son, the 17-year-old Vincent Ibrahimović, recently signed his first professional contract with Milan.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
FILE - Sweden's striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Ajax Amsterdam celebrates after he scored his and his team's second goal against Olympique Lyonnaise during their Champions League match in Amsterdam Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2002. (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic, file)
FILE - Former soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic stands before the Italian Super Cup semifinal soccer match between Juventus and Milan in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, file)
