Average Salary Of Minor League Baseball Player

Minor league baseball player salary is $28,000 annually. When compared to MLB, there is a significant difference in players' salaries.

The minimum wage in the MLB is $720,000. The amount that lower-league guys get is nothing compared to what their counterparts at the major level make.

Salaries in MiLB vary according to class. Triple-A has an average payroll of $35,800 annually, followed by $30,250 in Double-A and $26,000 in Single-A, whereas the rookies earn $19,800 annually.

The salary of the highest class is identical to the average annual salary of a minimum paid worker in the States. Due to the pay difference, many minor-league prospects have left the sport early.

The only decent amount these lower-level prospects get is the signing bonus, which also falls to a moderate amount after tax.

Michael Curry, who used to play for the Padres affiliate San Antonio Missions, shared his 2021 MILB salary in a tweet. The player earned $11,196 while playing in the Double-A class.

However, the wage is excellent when compared to last season. After many conversations between the MiLB Players Association and MLB, there was an agreement between the two parties to increase the wage.

The five-year deal saw MiLB players earn double what they used to previously. Paying athletes throughout the year except for the six-week winter break and arranging housing facilities for the athletes were other improvements in the agreement.

MLB also agreed not to cut down the number of affiliates team and keep it at 120. The other change was in the number of players in the rooster.

Starting next season, teams can have only 165 players on contract during the season and 175 during the off-season.

Highest Minor League Baseball player salary is $35,800 annually. You need to be a Triple-A class player to earn this amount.

AAA is the highest class in the minors. Almost all the prospects have the same contract, as no team gives a minor league athlete more than the minimum salary they are compelled to pay.

The AAA class consists of the Pacific Coast League and the International League. The former has ten teams, whereas the latter has twenty teams.

They are also known as Triple-A West and Triple-A East, respectively. The West has teams from the Pacific Coast and Southwest, and the East has teams from the Atlantic Coast and Midwestern US.

Both veterans and rookies play for AAA. Players who are on the 40-man roster of the team but not on the active MLB roster are sent to AAA class.

Athletes in AAA can be called up to be part of the major league as a replacement at any time. In that case, the players will earn the minimum basic salary of MLB during their stay in the majors.

Athletes from other classes are also called up. Recently, Drew Maggi, who plays for the Double-A affiliate of the Pirates, was called up by the Pirates after placing Bryan Reynolds on the bereavement list.

During his stay with the Pirates, Maggi recorded his MLB debut, first at-bat, first hit, and first RBI in the major league. 

How much do Minor League Baseball players make 2022? The answer is much less than they currently make in the 2023 season.

Until last season, MiLB players used to earn half of what they are making this season. The change happened after MiLB athletes successfully ratified their first collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with MLB.

The average weekly salary of MiLB players during the 2022 season was:

• $400 per week in Rookies
• $500 per week in Single-A
• $600 per week in Double-A
• $700 per week in Triple-A

As the MiLB players were paid only during the games, not during the off-season and spring training, these weekly earnings don't tell the whole story.

MiLB season runs for about twenty-three weeks from April to September. With that in consideration, the annual salary of lower-level comes to $9,200 in rookies, $11.500 in Single-A, $13,800 in Double-A, and $16,100 in Triple-A.

This is somewhat of an increase when compared to the 2018 season. During that season, the average salary for a minor level was $6,000 in Single-A, $9,350 in Double-A, and $15,000 in Triple-A.

However, after the CBA with MLB before the 2023 season, the lower-level athletes earn almost double what they used to. Also, MiLB players will get paid $625 weekly during four weeks of offseason and spring training camp.

Whereas they will earn $250 per week for offseason workouts at home.