MLB earnings up but flat over ’16
Kershaw’s $33M leads way again
The average Major League Baseball salary increased for the 13th consecutive year, but the rate of growth is slowing — even as industry revenues top the $10 billion mark.
USA TODAY Sports’ annual salary survey shows the average major leaguer will make $4.47 million in 2017. That’s still a record — but just a 1.6% increase over the $4.4 million mark last year. And that’s the smallest bump since the last salary decrease — from $2.5 million in 2003 to $2.4 million in 2004, a 3% drop.
Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw will be the majors’ highest-paid player for the second consecutive year, at $33 million. His Dodgers also will repeat as opening-day payroll kings, at $188 million for their 25-man roster, plus disabled list.
Their total financial commitments, however, will total more than $235 million, as they are paying nearly $50 million to players released or in the minor leagues. Carl Crawford, who has not played since he was released by the Dodgers in June, will receive $21.8 million from them this season.
At the other end of the spectrum, the San Diego Padres will commit $34.6 million to their opening-day roster. However, the Padres also are paying players who will not suit up for them — more than $35 million, with $27 million of that for their shares of salaries to outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. and starting pitcher James Shields.
Of the 31 players on the Padres’ opening-day roster and disabled list, 21 are making less than $1 million and three are making the league minimum $535,000.
That desire to go with younger, cheaper talent has pervaded the majors all the more, as the average player can hardly count on a cost-of-living increase each year. Many veteran players such as Kelly Johnson and Angel Pagan did not find guaranteed major league jobs all the way through spring training, raising concerns among veteran players that the desire for younger and cheaper might come at the expense of consistent on-field performers.
Our salary database dates to 1988 — a fine vessel to access financial information and opening-day rosters — and this year’s edition contains an assortment of fun and funky facts, if you look hard enough.
Let’s break down some of them:
Cincinnati cherubs
As the Cincinnati Reds’ rebuilding process continues, they’ll continue to have one of the youngest rosters in the major leagues. Four Reds — Barrett Astin, Rookie Davis, Amir Garrett and Stuart Turner — will be stepping onto a major league field for the first time. Eleven of their 25 active players have less than a year of service time. And their average age of 26 years, 355 days is youngest in the major leagues, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
That’s nothing Bronson Arroyo can’t change. The right-hander was expected to join the active roster this week, and, at 40 and with 13 years of major league service, will easily become the oldest Red.
Easy money
Keep in mind our team payrolls do not include money paid to released players, although the Texas Rangers’ $178 million total does include $24 million going to Prince Fielder, who retired because of a neck injury in 2016. He remains on the 60-day disabled list, and insurance is picking up about half of his salary.
Crawford’s $21.8 million from the Dodgers will mark the final dollars paid out from the sevenyear, $142 million deal he signed with the Boston Red Sox before the 2011 season. Was that the last misstep committed by Theo Epstein? Seems like it.
And then there’s Alex Rodriguez. This season marks the final year of his 10-year, $275 million deal with the New York Yankees, and his “negotiated retirement” in August ensured he’ll collect all $21 million due in 2017. That means that as he pontificates from the air-conditioned comfort of a Fox Sports studio this season, A-Rod will be making more money than all but 29 of the players he’s analyzing.
Oh, and he’ll be running his career earnings to a record $441 million.
Bartolo, Beltran, Beltre: An entire adulthood in majors
That would be Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre, who has amassed 18 years, 97 days of major league service time. That gives Beltre, who turns 38 this week, a slight edge over Atlanta Braves starter Bartolo Colon, who’s at 18 years, 62 days.
Houston Astros designated hitter Carlos Beltran, who turns 40 on April 24, is the other member of the 18-plus club, at 18 years, 15 days.
So, the mere major league versions of these guys are old enough to vote. Alas, Colon and Beltre were born in the Dominican Republic, so a Bart & Beltre ticket in 2020 is a non-starter.
Bryant vs. Seager vs. Betts: Best bang for the buck?
For those befuddled by how marginal veterans or released players will earn tens of millions more than MVP candidates, a quick refresher on baseball’s salary structure: Clubs can unilaterally set salaries for players with less than three years’ service time. Third-year to fifth-year players (and a handful of the most experienced second-year guys) are eligible for salary arbitration. After six years of service, free agency beckons.
With so many of the game’s greatest players skewing younger these days, that can make for some serious value.
Consider Kris Bryant and Corey Seager, who finished first and third, respectively, in National League MVP voting a year ago. Bryant, who hit 39 home runs before leading the Chicago Cubs on a postseason march to the World Series title, will be paid $1.05 million, which is a record for a pre-arbitration player. Yet he’ll be the 16th-highest-paid player on his own team.
Seager, who turns 23 on April 27, hit 26 home runs, batted .308, played an excellent shortstop and produced 6.1 Wins Above Replacement for the Dodgers. For that, he’ll pull in $575,500, less money than 20 of his teammates.
Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts was runner-up to Mike Trout for American League MVP honors in 2016, and he’s now runner-up to Bryant for the biggest pre-arbitration salary ever. After a 31-homer, 113-RBI, 26steal, .897 OPS campaign, Betts will get by on $950,000 this season — or a few hundred thousand less than teammate Sandy Leon, a catcher who has hit eight career home runs, scattered over parts of five major league seasons.
Dissension in the ranks? Hardly. Baseball’s union does an excellent job of educating players on the meritocracy of service time. And none of these men has signed on for a long-term contract yet. So expect financial tremors in 2021 — when Betts is likely eligible for free agency — and 2022, when Seager and Bryant hit the market.