A single piece of processed cheese, a lone tomato slice, and a leaf of lettuce on white bread, with a dollop of coleslaw on the side. This was a postgame meal served recently to players in the Oakland A's minor league system.
As reported by ESPN, a photo of the food — paired alongside a picture of what appears to be a fajita, with a few shreds of vegetable and chicken — was tweeted by Advocates for Minor Leaguers, an organization fighting on behalf of minor league players for fair pay and better working conditions. The tweet has sparked nearly 1,000 comments and more than 3,000 retweets.
Players in the Oakland A’s organization shared these photos of their recent post-game meals.
— Advocates for Minor Leaguers (@MiLBAdvocates) June 1, 2021
No employer would serve these meals to employees they care about. Why are the A’s serving them to their future Major Leaguers? pic.twitter.com/cIFqiPg6iX
Athletics president Dave Kaval called the food "totally unacceptable," and said the team terminated its agreement with the third-party vendor that provided it to players "several weeks ago."
In a statement, the A's added: "Several weeks ago, we were made aware of the postgame meals being served to players in our Minor League system. Those options were completely unacceptable and by no means meet our quality standards. We immediately ended our relationship with that third-party vendor."
Both photos were believed to be taken since May 18.
Athletics president Dave Kaval called the food "totally unacceptable" and said the team terminated its agreement with the third-party vendor that provided it to players "several weeks ago."
"I appreciate Mr. Kaval's prompt acknowledgement that these meals are unacceptable and his promise to do better going forward," Advocates for Minor Leaguers executive director Harry Marino said in a statement to ESPN.
"Unfortunately, this is far from an isolated incident in Minor League baseball. Each and every day, I hear directly from players about the myriad ways in which they are being mistreated. While players are too scared to speak publicly, for fear of retaliation, their stories need to be heard. I would welcome the opportunity to work collaboratively with Mr. Kaval or any other MLB representative who would like to hear these stories and work together to better the game of baseball for players at all levels."
