MLB’S average salary drops for third straight year
Has fallen from $4.1M in 2017 to what would have been $3.89M in ’20 if a full season was played
NEW YORK — The average Major League Baseball salary dropped for an unprecedented third straight year, even before the shortened season caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The Major League Baseball Players Association said Thursday the 2020 average would have been $3.89 million if a full season had been played. That was down 4.2 per cent from the ’19 average of $4.05 million and represented a 5.2 per cent decrease from the record average of just under $4.1 million in ’17. The average started to slip in ’18, falling by $1,436.
Because the pandemic caused players to receive roughly 37 per cent of pay last year, the actual average plunged to $1.59 million, its lowest since 1998.
“We have been consistent in our position that the current trends in our game need to be addressed regarding the lack of incentive to compete and the need for the system to better reflect the value created by players throughout the service time spectrum,” union head Tony Clark said. “While there are other forces at play, and concerns that we have in addition to the above, we look forward to discussing each of the issues I just highlighted as a way to move our industry forward.”
Before 2018 and ’19, the average had not dropped in consecutive years since the union started tracking it at $19,000 in 1967. Before the past three years, the only decreases had been in ’87, when clubs were found guilty by an arbitrator of collusion against free agents; in ’95, after the end of a 7
1⁄2-month strike; and in 2004. Last year’s drop showed the widening imbalance between top stars and other players. The average fell despite Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Rendon and Christian Yelich all starting long-term deals guaranteeing $215 million or more.
The union’s annual survey included 1,087 players, up from 988 in 2019. Active rosters were scheduled to expand from 25 to 26 for the ’20 season and went up to 28 because of the pandemic, which likely is responsible for part of the decrease. More players were in the major leagues with salaries closer to the minimum, which rose to $563,500 from $555,000.
Without adjusting for the pandemic, the average of players with five to six years of majorleague service — the group one year from free agency — dropped from $7.57 million in 2019 to $6.51 million in ’20.
MLB’S final ’20 report last month showed payrolls plunged to $1.75 billion during the pandemic-shortened season from $4.22 billion. That included a drop in base wages to $1.54 billion from $3.99 billion, excluding prorated shares of signing bonuses, earned bonuses and option buyouts.
Players have been angered by club behaviour in recent years, raising the chance of a work stoppage when the five-year collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1.
The current labour deal included steep luxury-tax surtaxes, and only two teams, World Series champion Washington and Boston, exceeded the lowest tax threshold of $197 million in 2018, followed by the New York Yankees, the Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs going over the $206-million threshold in ’19.
Players lost a grievance last year claiming the Chicago Cubs improperly delayed star Kris Bryant’s debut at the start of the 2015 season in an effort to delay the third baseman’s eligibility for free agency.
The union also filed a grievance in February ’18 against Miami, Oakland, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay Rays that accused them of improperly spending revenue-sharing money, a case that is still pending.
The union has repeatedly said that teams cutting major league payroll in rebuilding, which players call tanking, is detrimental to the industry.