Major League Baseball (MLB) minimum player salary 2003-2021

Major League Baseball has a minimum player salary in place to ensure that its athletes are fairly compensated for the work they do. The MLB minimum salary in 2021 stood at a handsome 570.5 thousand U.S. dollars annually, representing a steady increase each year over the last 15 years.

Money to be made in the MLB

MLB players are known to receive generous yearly salaries, in addition to performance incentives, such as prizes for games won. The average player salary in 2021 was more than seven times higher than the minimum salary, at around 4.17 million U.S. dollars. This also represents almost double the average player salary from 2003, illustrating the rapid boom of money in baseball. However, there are large discrepancies between the salaries offered to players by different franchises. While players at the San Francisco Giants expected to take home an average of 7.38 million U.S. dollars annually as of 2019, professionals for the Oakland Athletics had to settle with just 2.09 million U.S. dollars a year on average.

MLB's biggest earners

Certain positions in the MLB, such as first base or starting pitcher, are usually better paid due to the important roles they are considered to have in the game. The highest paid players in the MLB in the 2021 season include New York Mets’ pitcher, Jacob deGrom, and New York Yankees' pitcher, Gerrit Cole, with an annual salary of 36 million U.S. dollars each. In 2020, the New York Yankees were the best-paid baseball team in the MLB as the famous franchise based at Yankee Stadium had an opening day payroll of 254.19 million U.S. dollars. The Miami Marlins, on the other hand, were the most thrifty franchise with an opening day payroll of just under 59 million U.S. dollars.