Trout, Cole top list of players earning $100,000 per game
NEW YORK » Mike Trout and Gerrit Cole aren’t the only major leaguers with a big financial incentive to get back on the field.
While they head a starry quartet that would take in more than $200,000 per game, 65 players would earn at least $100,000 each time their team wins or loses if the pandemic-delayed major league season get under way, according to an analysis of their contracts by The Associated Press.
Most rookies and those making the minimum would get nearly $3,500 each. Every game added to the big league schedule earns players about $24 million in aggregate.
Clubs would benefit, too, with huge revenue streams flowing from regional sports networks and national broadcast contracts. A contentious negotiation is likely if Major League Baseball asks the players’ association to accept salary cuts to compensate for competing in empty ballparks.
“I would need to be fully informed about revenue and things like that before I would decide if I think it’s fair for us to do that,” Washington first baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. “I know the owners make a lot of money . ... We’re in such a unique situation. People want to play. People want to get back on the field.”
“If there ever was a time where two sides that have obviously argued in the past could get along and get things done, now would be the time,” he added. “That being said, I’m not going to sit here and say the players would be willing to do that. I don’t even know if I would be willing to do that.”
Zimmerman, 35 and closer to the end of his career than the beginning, has a $2 million salary and would get $12,346 per game.
Trout, the 28-year-old Los Angeles Angels star who has won three AL MVP awards, has a $36 million salary. He is tied for the major league high with Cole, the 29-year-old righthander who left Houston as a free agent to sign with the New York Yankees. That works out to $222,222 for each game of the 162-game season.
Colorado third baseman Nolan Arenado is third at $216,049 per game, followed by Houston righthander Justin Verlander at $203,704. Next is lefthander David Price, acquired by the Los Angeles Dodgers from Boston in February, at $197,531.
Lower down the salary scale, 392 of the approximately 900 players on active rosters and injured lists earn at least $10,000 a game, including 300 at
$20,000 or more, 259 at
$25,000 or more, 161 at
$50,000 or higher and 100 at $75,000 or above.
Opening day was scheduled for March 26, but has been delayed indefinitely due to the new coronavirus pandemic. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is confident the 2020 season will start at some point, and MLB and the union have discussed possibilities that include playing in empty ballparks and neutral sites.
As part of a March deal between MLB and the union, players gained a key objective in bargaining: If no games are played, each player would get the same amount of service time this year as he earned in 2019. As part of the deal, teams are advancing $170 million in salary but players give up claims to any more if the season is scrapped. That leaves each player to earn a maximum $260,000,
$60,000, $30,000 or
$16,500, depending on his contract, if there is a missed season.
Players agreed to prorate their salaries based on actual games played.
ESPN to air games from South Korean baseball league
BRISTOL, CONN. » ESPN will begin airing six regular-season games per week from South Korea’s KBO baseball league.
The agreement with Eclat Media Group was announced Monday, the day before the league is scheduled to open its season.
The first game featuring the NC Dinos taking on the Samsung Lions will air at 1 a.m. EDT Tuesday. Games will air regularly Tuesday through Friday at
5:30 a.m. EDT, Saturday at
4 a.m. EDT, and Sunday at
1 a.m. EDT. Most will be on
ESPN2.
The defending Korea Series champion Doosan Bears will be on Wednesday against the LG Twins while the 11-time league champion KIA Tigers take on the Lions on Friday.
The agreement includes the postseason and the Korea Series best-of-seven championship. The schedule and where ESPN airs them is subject to change pending the status of other leagues whose schedules have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
ESPN announcers will provide commentary in English from their home studios. Karl Ravech and Eduardo Perez will do three games this week, including the opener. Jon Sciambi, Jessica Mendoza and Kyle Peterson will also call games.