NEW YORK _ As Major League Baseball continues to wrest control over the minor leagues, MiLB President Pat O'Conner's retirement, announced Tuesday, indicates the end of the longstanding institution's independence.
"It has been a privilege to serve in Minor League Baseball leadership for the past 28 years and I will be forever indebted to all of the staff who worked with me in St. Petersburg over the years," O'Conner said in a statement. "It was an honor to work alongside the owners, executives, players, umpires, fans and communities that have made our organization so successful."
O'Conner will leave office on Dec. 31, ending a tenure that began with his election in 2007.
However, his relationship with MLB had become publicly acrimonious as the two sides warred over autonomy, including a leaked proposal that would strip over 40 minor league teams of their MLB affiliation (including the Staten Island Yankees and two Mets affiliates) as a cost-cutting measure.
O'Conner said "minor league baseball's future is under an existential threat" as MLB and MiLB engaged in heated negotiations over their Professional Baseball Agreement, which expires after 2020. He also rallied congressional support for the teams on the chopping block, leading to the formation of a bipartisan Save Minor League Baseball Task Force in 2019, which Staten Island Democrat Max Rose (whose constituency includes the SI Yankees) serves as co-chair.
However, O'Conner and MLB were once allies on shared political goals, including maintaining the sub-poverty line pay rates typical in minor league baseball. In 2018, O'Conner helped MLB lobby Congress to pass the Save America's Pastime Act, which exempted minor leaguers from federal minimum wage laws.
