MLBPA gives Fehr $11 million severance package

Amy K. Nelson of ESPN.com reports that Donald Fehr will receive an $11 million severance package when he steps down as executive director of the MLB Players Association. Michael Weiner has already been voted in as the replacement for Fehr, who has headed the MLBPA since 1983. He was paid $1 million annually from 2001-2008 and sources told Nelson that his salary “has been stagnant since before that as well” because Fehr declined raises that were offered to him. Instead “the framework was in place from those offers to determine a fair package for Fehr when he decided to step down” and his severance was approved by the players last month, with an estimated 97 percent voting in favor. “I think without a doubt there was no hesitation,” union subcommittee member and Tigers center fielder Curtis Granderson said. “We kept looking at how much Bud Selig makes and we looked at how much Don Fehr hasn’t made.” Selig reportedly earns around $18 million annually and Nelson points out that Fehr’s basketball counterpart, Billy Hunter, took home $3.5 million this year.