Red Sox won’t lay off full-time employees but some to have pay cut

Red Sox employees making more than $50,000 will have their pay cut on a sliding scale.Maddie Meyer/Getty

The Red Sox informed more than 400 employees on Friday night that they will not lay off or furlough any full-time staff members through the end of the season, but they will make pay cuts for those earning over $50,000, according to multiple team sources.

The group includes just under 200 employees in baseball operations — front-office members, major and minor league managers and coaches, and scouts and player development staff — as well as those in the team’s business operations. The cuts will occur on a sliding scale, with progressively greater cuts to the salaries of the highest earners in the organization.

As first reported by Evan Drellich of The Athletic, for the remaining seven months of the year, salaries of $50,000 to $99,999 will be cut by 20 percent; salaries from $100,000 to $499,999 will be reduced by 25 percent; and salaries over $500,000 will be reduced by 30 percent. The cuts will take effect at the start of June and run through December 31. The cuts include a floor that prevents those in the first tier from seeing their salaries drop below $50,000.

MLB suspended Uniform Employee Contracts in late-April, a response to the lost revenues resulting from the suspension of the season because of the the COVID-19 pandemic. That move permitted organizations to engage in layoffs, furloughs, or pay cuts, determinations that would be made on a team-by-team basis.

Some teams have announced widespread layoffs and furloughs, with scouts and player development officials particularly vulnerable with scouting activities limited and the minor league seasons all but certain to be canceled. Other teams — including the Tigers and Rockies — have committed to full pay for their employees through the season. Several others have cut salaries of top earning employees both to avoid furloughs and layoffs, the path chosen by the Red Sox.