NEW YORK — Major League Baseball is suspending all political contributions in the wake of last week’s invasion of the U.S. Capitol by a mob loyal to President Donald Trump, joining a wave of major corporations rethinking their efforts to lobby Washington.
“In light of the unprecedented events last week at the U.S. Capitol, MLB is suspending contributions from its Political Action Committee pending a review of our political contribution policy going forward,” the league said in a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Following the insurrection last week by Trump supporters while Congress attempted to certify the results of the presidential election, many companies have said they will avoid making donations to members of the House and Senate who voted to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over Trump. Others, like MLB, have postponed political giving to both political parties altogether.
MLB is the first of the major professional sports leagues to say it would alter its lobbying strategy in the wake of the deadly Capitol riots.
The Office of The Commissioner of Major League Baseball Political Action Committee has donated $669,375 to Senate and House candidates since the 2016 election cycle, with 52.4% of that money going to Republican candidates, according to The Center for Responsive Politics.
Among its lobbying successes was a bill in 2018 that exempted minor league baseball players making as little as $5,500 per season from federal minimum wage laws, preempting a lawsuit from three players filed four years earlier. The “Save America’s Pastime Act” appeared on page 1,967 of a $1.3 trillion spending bill.
Since the 2016 election cycle, MLB has made contributions to two senators and nine representatives who were among those opposing certification of Biden’s victory. The Senate Republicans are Ted Cruz (Texas) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (Mississippi), and the House Republicans are Roger Williams (Texas), Kevin McCarthy (California), David Schweikert (Arizona), Steve Chabot (Ohio), Markwayne Mullin (Oklahoma), Adrian Smith (Nebraska), Michael Burgess (Texas), Rick Crawford (Arkansas) and Elise Stefanik (New York).
BLUE JAYS: Mark Shapiro has been given a five-year contract extension as the Toronto Blue Jays’ president and chief executive officer.
Rogers Communications, which owns the team, made the announcement Wednesday.
Shapiro worked for the Cleveland Indians before becoming the Blue Jays’ president on Oct. 31, 2015.
Rogers chairman Edward Rogers said Shapiro’s leadership and commitment over the last five years have been critical to the team’s growth and development.
The Blue Jays returned to the playoffs last season for the first time since 2016.
Toronto was 32-28 during the pandemic-shortened season, earning a wild card in the expanded playoffs. The Blue Jays were swept over two games in the first round by eventual AL champion Tampa Bay.
RANGERS: Texas have signed right-handed pitcher Justin Anderson and veteran catcher Drew Butera to minor league contracts that include invitations to major league spring training.
Butera got a one-year deal that will be worth $1 million if he is on the big league roster after he played the past two-plus seasons with Colorado. The 37-year-old catcher has played 541 games for five teams over the past 11 seasons. He caught the final out of Kansas City’s World Series championship in 2015 when he was teammates with new Rangers General Manager Chris Young.
ROCKIES: Antonio Senzatela and Colorado agreed to a $3 million, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration.
A right-hander who turns 26 on Jan. 21, Senzatela was 5-3 with a 3.44 ERA in 12 starts last year. He earned $212,407 prorated from a $573,500 salary and had been eligible for arbitration for the first time.
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