Baseball Players Get a Raise

Major League Baseball players earning the minimum will get a raise.   It was announced that the Major League Baseball minimum salary in the 2011 Championship Season will be $414,000. It is a $14,000 raise over the 2010 minimum.

Article VI of the 2007-2011 MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement (referred to as the “Basic Agreement”) deals with player salaries.  Specifically, Section B of the Article contemplates Minimum Salary.  The 2011 season is the last one that will be governed under the current Basic Agreement.  Section B calls for a minimum salary “at the 2010 rate per season plus a cost of living adjustment, rounded to the nearest $500, provided that the cost of living adjustment shall not reduce the minimum salary below $400,000.”  

Minor Leage players will also get a small bump.  Minor League minimum salary for players on their clubs’ 40-man rosters is set at $67,300 (up from 2010′s $65,000), but only players who have at least one year of being on the 40-man under their belt or at least one day of MLB service will be bound by the salary floor.  For Minor League players on the 40-man roster who do not fit into either category (i.e. players just named to their teams’ 40-man rosters and without any MLB service), their minimum salary will be $33,700 (up from 2010′s $32,500).