Owners’ pay scale will hit players hard
NEW YORK — The New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers would each save more than $100 million on player salaries as part of management’s proposal to start the coronavirus-delayed season than they would under the union’s plan, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.
Top stars accustomed to eye-popping salaries that set them apart from mere AllStars would experience by far the steepest cuts. Set to earn $36 million each, Mike Trout and Gerrit Cole would get $25.3 million under the union’s plan and a base of $5.6 million under the teams’ proposal, with the chance to get back to about $8 million if the postseason is played. A rookie at the minimum would get $396,537 from the union plan and $256,706 from the MLB proposal.
The Yankees project to pay $155 million to players under the union’s plan based on frozen March 28 rosters, and spend $48 million on salary under management’s proposal. The Astros drop from $149 million to $46 million and the Dodgers from $147 million to $46 million.
Lower-spending teams save, too, but not nearly as much. Miami is at $33 million under the union’s plan and $16 million under MLB’s. Pittsburgh’s salaries would drop from $36 million to $17 million and Baltimore’s from $43 million to $18 million.
Players agreed on March 26 to accept prorated shares of their salaries during a shortened season, part of a deal that guaranteed $170 million in advances and service time even if the season is scrapped.
A player with a $20 million salary, like St. Louis All-Star catcher Yadier Molina, would be guaranteed just below $4 million under the MLB plan and about $14.1 million under the union plan.
Tampa Bay pitcher Charlie Morton’s $15 million salary would be cut to a $3.2 million base under the MLB plan and $10.6 million under the MLB proposal.
Philadelphia catcher J.T. Realmuto’s $10 million salary would drop to a $2.4 million base as part of the MLB proposal and to $7 million under the union plan.
Milwaukee pitcher Brett Anderson would fall from $5 million to $1.4 million in MLB’s plan and to $3.5 million in the union’s formula.
“Interesting strategy of making the best most marketable players potentially look like the bad guys,” Anderson tweeted.
Salaries for the 899 players on big league rosters and injured lists at the time spring training stopped total about $2.7 billion under the union’s plan and approximately $950 million in management’s proposal. The sides estimate salaries for all 40-man roster players would add to $2.8 billion in the union’s plan and $1.2 billion in management’s proposal, not including a $200 million postseason bonus pool MLB proposed.