“The biggest value that we have in the Players Alliance is us, the players,” Maybin said. “It’s not somebody speaking for us. We are the face.”

The donation from M.L.B. and the union was timely: Granderson said the Players Alliance had no money in its bank account before the pledge. The $10 million will allow the group to expand and formalize more initiatives; Maybin said he had recently discussed with his former Yankees teammate C. C. Sabathia, the Players Alliance vice president, how to help finance youth travel teams, because playing baseball is expensive.

In a statement, M.L.B. Commissioner Rob Manfred said the league believed the efforts of the Players Alliance “will complement existing diversity initiatives and accelerate progress.” The players’ union chief Tony Clark added in a statement: “Recent events and social unrest have profoundly crystallized the need for prescriptive programs and additional education designed to enhance Black participation at all levels of baseball for the betterment of our game as well as society.”

There were only 67 Black players on opening day major-league rosters this season, with a smaller share of representation in several other areas of the sport. While M.L.B.’s own efforts have gradually reached more underserved and underrepresented youth players — for example, two 2020 first-round picks, Ed Howard of the Cubs and Jordan Walker of the St. Louis Cardinals, both of whom are Black, are alumni of diversity development programs — the rate of Black players in the major leagues has dwindled from a high of around 19 percent in the early 80s to about 8 percent now.

There are only two Black major-league managers (Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Dusty Baker of the Houston Astros), two Black heads of baseball operations (Michael Hill of the Miami Marlins and Kenny Williams of the Chicago White Sox) and just one Black C.E.O. or team president (Derek Jeter of the Miami Marlins). There are no Black majority owners.

“We don’t want charity cases, but we have seen historically that there have been individuals that are qualified for some of these positions,” Granderson said.

Details are still being ironed out, but Granderson said the Players Alliance hoped to pay for or help set up young Black men or women with entrees into the sport, from front offices to coaching staffs to apparel company positions.

Source: New York Times

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