About a week ago, the MLB and the MLB Players Association came to the conclusion of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement that will last through the year 2021. Though the agreement has not yet been published, the league has released many important details about the terms, including the newest figures for minimum salaries.
According to the report, the minimum salary will jump from $507,500 to $535,000 in 2017. It will then become $545,000 in 2018, and $555,000 in 2019. Then, for the final two years of the deal, it will simply be adjusted based on the cost of living.
The minimum salary for the minor leagues will also be impacted, spiking from $82,700 to $86,500 in 2017. Then, it will go to $88,000 and $89,500 in 2018 and 2019 respectively. The minimum will undergo the same cost of living adjustment as the majors in 2020 and 2021.
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Looking back in history, the minimum salary has undergone drastic change in the past 50 years. Back in 1967, the minimum salary in Major League Baseball was $6,000, with the league's average salary standing at a pitiful $19,000. A quarter of a century ago, the league minimum was $100,000, with the league average being just under $600,000. Today, the average salary for a Major League player is about $4.4 million.
Other important adjustments to the new CBA include limiting the minimum number of days on the DL from 15 to 10, and also creating a new rule where the team with the highest winning percentage gets home-field advantage in the World Series, rather than being based on the All-Star Game winner.
