Not all of them know it yet, but numerous members of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ support staff, including food-room attendants, are going to receive at least a portion of a postseason share.
“There are a lot of people who will be pretty surprised when they get checks in the mail,” third baseman Evan Longoria said Wednesday.
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Every season, players on postseason contenders vote on how they will divide the pool of money they would receive from playoff gate receipts. The vote occasionally causes friction — the 2018 Yankees reportedly shortchanged certain coaches and support staff who were members of their traveling party. But more often, the distribution of shares reflects the players’ generosity, both toward each other and the team employees who assist them during the season, from the traveling secretary to clubhouse attendants.
The Diamondbacks, unexpected National League champions, voted 71 full shares, each worth $313,634, and 11.49 partial shares, according to figures released Tuesday by the commissioner’s office. The World Series champion Texas Rangers voted 64 full shares, each worth $506,263, 12.56 partial shares and $48,000 in cash awards.
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The overall pool, a record $107.8 million this season, includes 60 percent of total gate receipts from the first two games of each Wild Card series, the first three games of each Division Series and the first four games of each League Championship Series and the World Series. The further a team advances, the greater its chunk of the pool.
The number of full shares the Diamondbacks agreed upon was not the most in recent years. The Dodgers distributed 80, 82 and 80 full shares the past three seasons, the Rays and Yankees 74 in 2021, and the Phillies 72 in 2022. But Longoria, the 16-year veteran who oversaw the Diamondbacks’ shares meeting after the team released its player representative, shortstop Nick Ahmed, on Sept. 11, made clear to his teammates the importance of distributing the money in an unselfish manner.
Players from other clubs echo his sentiments.
“When I first came up and sat in my first shares meeting one common theme came out from the likes of Dan Uggla, Brian McCann, etc.: ‘If we win the World Series these shares can be life-changing money to some of these people,’” said first baseman Freddie Freeman, who has appeared in eight postseasons with the Braves and Dodgers.
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“That stuck with me. So as I’ve gotten older in the game and have a voice, that’s what I say. Thankfully we have a lot of guys with the Dodgers who feel the same way. Support staff work so hard throughout the year. We just try and be as generous as possible.”
Added first baseman Rhys Hoskins, a member of the 2022 Phillies: “We felt because it had been so so long for the franchise and all of the people that had worked there during our 10-year postseason drought, it was important to take care of as many of the people that had any hand in allowing us to be the best product on the field. That’s really what it came down to. Our owner has always preached the importance of feeling like a family. That resounded with us during our meetings.”
Longoria, who has appeared in six postseasons, said his first priority was making sure the Diamondbacks’ players felt they were treated fairly. At least 20, he estimated, automatically qualified for full shares. Players and managers who are with a team from June 1 until the end of the season fall into that category, according to major-league rules. Those players, injured as well as active, also are the only ones who can vote.
The Diamondbacks also voted full shares for their full-time major-league coaches and athletic trainers, as well as players such as outfielder Tommy Pham and closer Paul Sewald, who arrived in midseason trades. Non-uniformed personnel such as front-office executives do not receive postseason shares.
Players with minimal service time sparked the greatest debate, Longoria said. Teams are required to vote on shares before the playoffs start, without knowing how the games will play out. A club that withholds a full share from a youngster risks making an unfair decision if the youngster emerges as a major contributor in October.
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“That’s the hardest part of the process — you have to decide that before you know the impact everybody is going to have,” said Longoria, who prior to the meeting sought input from players with other clubs. “That’s why we ended up deciding, if you make a roster, you’re going to get a full share, just because of the potential impact you could have playing deeper into October.”
Left-handed reliever Andrew Saalfrank was one such example, making only 10 regular-season appearances, all after Sept. 4, then pitching 11 times in the postseason, getting scored on only twice. Pitcher Bryce Jarvis, who made the Wild Card Series roster but no other, received a full share without ever pitching in the playoffs. Pitcher Slade Cecconi, whose only contribution in October was two innings in the NLCS, also received a full share. So did infielder Jordan Lawlar, who had only two plate appearances in three rounds.
With their postseason shares, Saalfrank and Lawlar roughly tripled the money they earned in limited service time during the regular season. For Jarvis and Cecconi, the shares were approximately double. But as much as such players will welcome the additional cash, they already were earning a pro-rated portion of baseball’s $720,000 minimum salary last season. Support staffers such as clubhouse attendants work for much less.
“I kind of said to the group, I’m in a different spot, I’ve made plenty of money,” said Longoria, who has earned nearly $150 million in his career and is now a free agent, undecided about playing next season.
“Don’t get me wrong. I’m not rolling my eyes over a $300,000 check. I’m just saying the impact that it has on me is not going to be as significant as on any of our younger players who have limited service time or our clubhouse attendants or our kitchen attendants. That impact is going to be much, much more for them.
“I said, I don’t feel like I should be the one to make this decision. But I want you guys to understand the perspective that I’m coming from when I say it’s life-changing for these people.”
If that hasn’t hit home for the players yet, it will soon. The collective-bargaining agreement requires the money to be distributed within 30 days of the completion of the World Series.
“These guys will get Christmas cards or messages on their phones, thanks from those people,” Longoria said. “And they’ll understand at that point what being in that position and being able to make that impact on somebody’s life means.”
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(Photo of Evan Longoria and Merrill Kelly: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)
