Whether or not professional baseball will be played this season is still undecided, but one team is positioning itself for the possibility of cancellation.
Local Pittsburgh affiliate WTAE and the Associated Press said Tuesday that the Pirates are suspending contributions to employee 401k plans, and members of the baseball club’s leadership team are taking voluntary pay cuts.
The station reported that “the cost-cutting measures were made due to the coronavirus pandemic that has already delayed the start of the Major League Baseball season for over a month.”
“The temporary suspension of retirement benefits is part of an effort to avoid any potential personnel cutbacks,” it said.
“We did identify the retirement contributions at least temporarily as an area where we might find some savings without too much impact on people, in terms of their everyday lives,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington was quoted as saying. “Our full expectation is that the contribution will go back into effect as soon as possible.”
The club recently announced that it planned to pay employees through the end of May.
“Cherington said the franchise is exploring all options from top to bottom in an effort to mitigate any negative impact on employees,” WTAE added.
Professional sports postponed
Major League Baseball’s 2020 season was delayed by at least two weeks due to the national emergency created by the coronavirus pandemic, league officials announced in mid-March, and Spring Training operations were suspended.
The move came after NBA Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus.
“MLB, along with the NBA, NHL and MLS, had taken the precautionary step of minimizing person-to-person contact by closing clubhouses to the media,” according to MLB.com. “But the rapid spread of coronavirus, which was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization, as well as the fast-approaching scheduled start of the regular season, prompted drastic action.”
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
