Current Events > Minor League Baseball Player Salaries Are Embarrassingly Low

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https://fanbuzz.com/mlb/minor-league-baseball-salary/

Minor League Baseball is far from a glamorous sport. Unlike its Major League Baseball counterpart, where ballplayers Mike Trout and Bryce Harper rake in hundreds of millions of dollars for their on-field services, minor leaguers are paid squat. Despite MLB teams being worth billions of dollars and hauling in millions each season, very little of that money is distributed to the players at the Rookie, Single-A, Double-A and Triple-A ranks. MLB issued a memo before the 2020 season instructing major league teams to raise the minimum salaries for minor league players, which will reportedly increase by anywhere from 38-72 percent. Still, thats not nearly enough considering the amount of hours these players put in during the season and in the offseason. According to The Athletic, the average player salary for a minor league player was $6,000 in Single-A, $9,350 in Double-A and $15,000 in Triple-A in 2018.

The aforementioned pay bump will increase player pay at least a little bit. According to the Associated Press, rookie and short-season level players minimum weekly pay was raised from $290 to $400. Class A level player pay jumped from $290 to $500, while Double-A player minimum weekly pay went from $350 to $600. Triple-A players stood to earn the most, going from a $502 minimum weekly pay to $700. Still, minor league teams play seasons as short as three months long. That means way less pay. Rookie & Short-Season: $400 weekly. Single-A: $500 weekly. Double-A: $600 weekly. Triple-A: $700 weekly. Still, $400 a week is only $1,600 per month. Even if a players season is a five-month season, that means theyre only earning $8,000 playing professional baseball that year. They also have to train and practice in the offseason (for which they arent paid for) while likely working another job while in a minor league system. The federal poverty line for individuals? $12,880.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/2/2/AAd-UUAADT3u.jpg

How do they afford housing? Do they have second jobs?

LameFAQs posted...

How do they afford housing? Do they have second jobs?

In my area we have a AA team and I know a guy who does this.... The players live with sponsors who house them.

I make more than the average AHL player, wild.

Wtf this is terrible

LameFAQs posted...

How do they afford housing? Do they have second jobs?

how would they have second jobs if theyre on the road half the time?

That makes more sense than them making millions of dollars for playing a game

Professional athletes make ridiculous money when people who literally save peoples lives and make a difference in the world like doctors, nurses, teachers, firemen etc. get jack shit.

StarbucksWorker posted...

how would they have second jobs if theyre on the road half the time?

maybe they're pilots

SSJPurple posted...

That makes more sense than them making millions of dollars for playing a game

Professional athletes make ridiculous money when people who literally save peoples lives and make a difference in the world like doctors, nurses, teachers, firemen etc. get jack shit.

well the franchises they play for are generally worth hundreds of millions to billions of dollars, theyre getting fairly compensated for the revenue they help to generate

now complain about actors who make upwards of $20m per movie

What's going on in that graph?
What does the red and yellow mean?

Questionmarktarius posted...

What's going on in that graph?
What does the red and yellow mean?

I think the red is showing the minor league salary. The yellow is showing the other salary that is listed under that heading. They keep the red one there to show it in relation to the other salary.

SSJPurple posted...

That makes more sense than them making millions of dollars for playing a game

Professional athletes make ridiculous money when people who literally save peoples lives and make a difference in the world like doctors, nurses, teachers, firemen etc. get jack shit.

Professional athletes can't work for 40 years. They're getting 20 years at absolute maximum, 10 if they're lucky, and they're always at risk of career-ending injuries that wipe away whatever future earnings they may get.

Direct your anger towards people who make millions and billions doing absolutely nothing.

I made more then that as a part time dishwasher as a teen.

Makes sense. No one cares about minor league baseball. It doesn't generate money. These dudes are lucky it's not a completely uncompensated internship.

Most Minor League games are either free or so cheap that the only money made is through concessions. The reality is that they're basically prolonged try-outs for the major leagues.

That said, if you're expecting people to treat it like a full-time job, you should pay them a full-time living wage.

SSJPurple posted...

That makes more sense than them making millions of dollars for playing a game

Professional athletes make ridiculous money when people who literally save peoples lives and make a difference in the world like doctors, nurses, teachers, firemen etc. get jack shit.

If that money wasn't going to millionaire players it would be going to the billionaire owners instead.

thronedfire2 posted...

maybe they're pilots

Good answer

This has been known for a long time-- minor league players are so desperate to fulfill their big league dreams that they're practically unpaid interns.

Covid was used as an excuse to get rid of dozens of minor league teams too-- meaning thousands of fewer jobs so that MLB didn't have to share as much of the billions they rake in.