UPDATE: Brandon Phillips’ comments about the Dominican Republic’s celebration not quite as critical as first reported

By Craig CalcaterraMar 15, 2013, 5:02 PM EDT
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UPDATE: Ken Rosenthal says that the comments of Phillips and others, such as they were, were not digs on the D.R. players as such. Go read his whole column here for a far more thorough handling of the comments Kernan tweeted about earlier.

5: 02 PM: I suppose it now, as they say, on:

Well, that’s the point, innit? You lost, Phillips. They beat you in a game that they feel was very important. And when you win you get to celebrate. When you lose the game you lost, you gotta play a loser-go-home game against Puerto Rico.  But sure, if you win it and get another crack at the D.R., by all means, “Show Out.” In that case you will have earned it. Like they did last night.

Oakland Athletics reverse course, will continue to pay minor leaguers

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By Craig CalcaterraJun 5, 2020, 7:11 PM EDT
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Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher has reversed course and will continue to pay minor leaguers. Fisher tells Slusser, “I concluded I made a mistake.” He said he is also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees.

The A’s decided in late May to stop paying paying minor leaguers as of June 1, which was the earliest date on which any club could do so after an MLB-wide agreement to pay minor leaguers through May 31 expired. In the event, the A’s were the only team to stop paying the $400/week stipends to players before the end of June. Some teams, notable the Royals and Twins, promised to keep the payments up through August 31, which is when the minor league season would’ve ended. The Washington Nationals decided to lop off $100 of the stipends last week but, after a day’s worth of blowback from the media and fans, reversed course themselves.