January 8, 2019

Was it Really a Drop?

MLB paid out less in salaries to players in 2018 compared to 2017. That’s the first drop in eight years. The owners did try to keep things even, but the players did not help


Spending on Major League Baseball payrolls dropped last season for the first time since 2010, an $18 million decrease attributable to drug and domestic violence suspensions and a player retiring at midseason.


Still, even a year with flat payrolls is unusual for MLB. The only previous drops since 2002 were by $3 million in 2010 and by $32 million in 2004.


Teams combined to spend $4.23 billion on major league payroll last year, according to final figures compiled by the commissioner’s office and obtained by The Associated Press. The decrease followed an offseason with a weak free-agent class that failed to push the average higher.

Chicago Sun-Times

Given the current free agents, I suspect there will be a nice bump next year.

3 thoughts on “Was it Really a Drop?

  1. David Pinto Post author

    Mind Fuse Baseball » I wouldn’t say they are losing money. They could have tried to write into a CBA that any time salaries fell below 50% of revenue, the difference would be divided among the players in that season based on service time, or WAR. So if MLB underpaid players, they would make it up at the end of the year. Instead, players were more interested in club house food and days off.

    Teams are now paying for actual expected performance instead of past great performance. It’s time to change the rules and get players to free agency more quickly.

    ReplyReply
  2. Pft

    The 2010 drop was clearly due to the recession. The 2004 drop came as MLBPA filed a collusion charge that was settled in 2006. The 2017 drop coming in a Bubble Economy for MLB resembles which one?

    ReplyReply

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