Remember when the Red Sox signed David Price to a seven-year, $217 million contract in 2015 and the baseball world lost its collective mind? Well, it’s 2019 now, and the ink has yet to dry on the largest agreement in the history of professional sports: a 12-year extension worth north of $430 million for Los Angeles Angels superstar outfielder Mike Trout.
A deal that came largely out of nowhere, Trout’s monster contract provides an average annual salary of roughly $36 million and blew Price’s out of the water.
Trout’s extension also comes at a time when the role of money in baseball is being hotly, and rightfully, debated. This offseason seemed to drag on endlessly, and with Opening Day upon us, a handful of stars remain unsigned, including Craig Kimbrel and Dallas Keuchel.
Trout was not set to hit free agency until 2020, yet he received historic money while other deserving players still seek employment.
More strikingly, Trout’s deal coincided with the announcement of possible upcoming changes to the pay and treatment of the game’s minor league players. MLB’s exploitation of its minor leaguers has been well-documented and widely criticized for years. Baseball’s youngest assets play for staggeringly low wages, and, as of yet, the league has been resistant to change.
According to ESPN, players at Class-A MLB affiliates get as little as $1,160 monthly before taxes and clubhouse dues. First-year players in Triple-A make $2,150 per month before dues and taxes.
Following the U.S. Congress’ $1.3 billion spending bill last spring, minor leaguers are legally prohibited from earning overtime pay beyond their $7.25 minimum wage at 40 hours/week.
Contrast these numbers with the fact that Trout will make nearly $100,000 per day for 12 years, and the critique that baseball treats its minor leaguers like quasi-indentured servants seems legitimate. For a sport and industry with seemingly endless amounts of money, this degree of inequality is indefensible.
Luckily, there are signs of change afoot. The Toronto Blue Jays recently announced they will raise their minor league pay by half in the hope that other organizations will follow suit. This is a good start, but even a 50 percent salary increase isn’t enough for players to sustain a reasonable standard of living amidst the demanding lifestyle of Minor League Baseball.
The current agreement between MLB and the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, which oversees Minor League Baseball, expires in September 2020. According to the ESPN report, the treatment of minor league players has been a key topic in the renewal talks.
In a statement to ESPN, MLB wrote, “The working conditions of minor league players, including their compensation, facilities and benefits, is an important area of discussion in those negotiations.”
It’s about time.
Like with any industry or institution, Major League Baseball will never be perfect. Systemic and financial inequality is deeply ingrained in the sport, and eliminating this dynamic will be very challenging. But for a game that is already struggling so mightily, addressing this issue could be crucial for long-term survival.
Change of this scale cannot occur overnight. But it has to be a priority. I applaud MLB commissioner Rob Manfred for his commitment to improving the pace of play and for often swiftly addressing problems that arise, from domestic violence to fan safety in ballparks.
When it comes to the business side, Manfred and his team fail to deliver. Rather than focusing on how many batters relief pitchers are required to face, MLB ought to ensure those pitchers are adequately supported and compensated in the first place.
MLB contract values will not stop rising. Trout, Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and Nolan Arenado all received massive deals this winter, and the likes of Mookie Betts, Kris Bryant and others are on deck. Each contract seems to top the last.
Rather than debate whether any single athlete deserves hundreds of millions of dollars for playing a game — an argument with merit, in my opinion — we must focus on eradicating the inequality that infects the sport. If the game’s current stars are to make $300 million, $400 million and, likely soon, $500 million, its future stars deserve more than $7.25 an hour.
Correction: The Blue Jays raised their minor league pay by half, not double