Oakland A's owner: 'I made a mistake,' will resume minor league pay

Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher was facing immense backlash after he decided to cease payments for the organizations' minor league players, but he has since reversed course.

Fisher said Friday that he "made a mistake" by cutting the pay of minor leaguers in the organization, according to ESPN's Alden Gonzalez, and announced he'll be paying the players a $400-per-week stipend through the remainder of what would've been the MiLB season. 

The Athletics were the only organization to announce they'd be ceasing payments entirely after the month of May. However, the Washington Nationals were going to cut their minor leaguers' pay to $300 per week until they decided to pay them the full $400 after their major leaguers were going to pay the difference. 

Fisher, who is worth $2.2 billion, according to Forbes, also has now established an emergency assistance fund for the employees he needed to furlough due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

While the MiLB season is all but canceled, Major League Baseball and its players' association are trying to strike a deal for the 2020 campaign. The players proposed a 114-game season with no further salary cuts, but owners denied the movement. Both sides would like the season to begin in July, but they need to reach a deal in order for that to happen.