Baseball Exemption Should Be Read Narrowly, DOJ Says in MLB Case

The Biden administration is weighing in on antitrust litigation brought against Major League Baseball by four defunct single-A teams over a restructuring that ousted a quarter of minor league affiliates from professional baseball’s farm system.

The government filed an amicus brief Monday with the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which is currently considering the teams’ challenge to the exemption that has shielded MLB from most antitrust claims since 1903.

Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr. found last year that the exemption was the only obstacle preventing the case from moving forward. The lawsuit filed by the former Staten ...