Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred defended the sport’s treatment of minor leaguers, prompting immediate criticism from the players’ advocacy group.

“I kind of reject the premise of the question that minor league players are not paid a living wage,” Manfred told the Baseball Writers’ Association of America before Tuesday’s All-Star Game.

“I think that we’ve made real strides in the last few years in terms of what minor league players are paid, even putting to one side the signing bonuses that many of them have already received. They receive housing, which obviously is another form of compensation.”

MLB raised minimum salaries in 2021, increasing Class A pay from $290 to $500 per week, Double-A from $350 to $600, and Triple-A from $502 to $700 over the roughly five-month season. Players are only paid in-season.

Amateur players residing in the United States and Canada who are selected in this week’s amateur draft have slot values for their signing bonuses, which clubs use as guidelines, ranging from $8.8 million for the first pick to just under $150,000 for the last selections of the 10th and final round.

College football

Saban: Alabama players topped $3 million in NIL money >> Nick Saban has been vocal about his issues with the status quo in name, image and likeness deals and their use in recruiting.

But it’s not like Alabama’s coach and his players haven’t benefited, too. Saban said Crimson Tide players have made more than $3 million in NIL money.

“The biggest concern is how does this impact and affect recruiting?” he said Tuesday at the Southeastern Conference Media Days. “On the recruiting trail right now, there’s a lot of people using this as inducements to go to their school by making promises they may or may not be able to keep in terms of what players are doing.

“I think that is what can create a competitive balance issue between the haves and have-nots. We’re one of the haves. Don’t think that what I’m saying is a concern that we have at Alabama because we’re one of the haves.”

Motor sports

NASCAR to hit the streets of Chicago >> NASCAR will celebrate its 75th season with an unprecedented street race through downtown Chicago in yet another radical change to the once staid schedule.

The Cup Series will race against the backdrop of Lake Michigan and Grant Park next July 2 in the debut race of a three-year deal with the city of Chicago. The venture was spearheaded by Ben Kennedy, the 30-year-old great-grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France.

It was Kennedy who successfully orchestrated the January exhibition race inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum that will return for a second running in 2023. Kennedy told The Associated Press he began working on both the Coliseum and Chicago street race in 2019.

The new venues come as NASCAR has made sweeping changes to its oval-heavy schedule, first by adding both a dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway and additional road courses and now a completely new concept.

Cycling

Houle takes emotional Tour stage win, Vingegaard keeps lead >> Canadian cyclist Hugo Houle claimed an emotional first-ever grand tour stage victory, while Jonas Vingegaard stayed in the overall lead of the Tour de France after a tough 16th stage as the race hit the Pyrenees.

Houle attacked on the approach to the final climb, the top category Mur de Péguère, and held off the group of chasers from the remnants of the breakaway to finish one minute, 10 seconds ahead of Valentin Madouas and Israel-Premier Tech teammate Michael Woods.

Houle had plenty of time to reach his arms out in celebration on the approach to the line and point to the sky in memory of his brother, Pierrick, who was killed 10 years ago in a drunk-driving accident while out running.

Figure skating

Japan’s Hanyu stepping away from competitive skating >> Two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan is stepping away from competitive figure skating, he said Tuesday.

Hanyu seemed to leave the door open to a possible return of some sort. However, most of his focus seemed to be on skating professionally in exhibitions.

Hanyu won back-to-back gold medals at the 2014 Sochi Games and the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. But he finished fourth in Beijing five months ago and had been noncommittal until Tuesday’s press conference at at Tokyo hotel.

Late Monday

Soto overcomes JRod to win HR Derby >> Washington Nationals star Juan Soto won his first Home Run Derby on Monday night, holding off Seattle Mariners rookie Julio Rodríguez 19-18 in the final.

The 23-year-old Soto hit 53 total homers, beating each of his three opponents by one homer in the midseason power showcase. Soto was locked in at the plate even after spending an hour earlier at Dodger Stadium answering repeated questions about his possible departure from the Nats after turning down a huge contract extension.

Soto beat Cleveland’s José Ramírez 18-17 in the first round before getting past 42-year-old Albert Pujols 16-15 to reach the final.