Last Updated on July 3, 2021 by
An average AAA baseball player makes about $15,000 according to The Athletic as of 2018. The average single-A baseball player makes $6,000, while an average double-A baseball player makes $9,350. Minor League Baseball isn’t a fascinating sport where players earn a good salary. Minor league players are paid low, unlike their Major League Baseball counterparts who earn hundreds of millions of dollars for playing on the field and also go home with massive endorsements and Major League contracts. We all know that the MLB haul in millions of dollars every season and worth billions of dollars. It is just unfortunate that the players at the Rookie receive little of those tons of money hauled in every season. Players with Triple-A, Double-A, and Single-A ranks are paid relatively low.
The Table Below Contains The Disparities In The Annual And Weekly Salaries Of Minor League Baseball Players In Single-A, Double-A, And Triple-A.
| Parameters | Single-A | Double-A | Triple-A |
| Weekly | $500 | $600 | $700 |
| Yearly | $6,000 | $9,350 | $15,000 |
They live below the standards. For these players to afford a moderate life, they have to work extra jobs, handle terrible living conditions, and even deal with awful food while they strive to make it to the top. The bad thing about this is that these nuisances are not taken seriously by top draft picks. When a first-year baseball player who just got out of college or high school gets signed, he’ll earn 6-figure and 7-figure signing bonuses which is relatively a standard salary. The only problem is with those first-year players who couldn’t get a top team to sign them – they’ll earn the lower than the minimum wage of any state in the country.
There was a memo issued by the MLB containing an instruction that all Major League teams should increase the salaries of minor leaguers by at least 38% to 72%. That might sound good to you, but it’s still not enough when you consider the number of hours, workload, training, and stress these players go through in the offseason and during the season. One can even say that they do not makeup to the salary of an average high school janitor.
What Is The Basic Salary Of Minor League Baseball players?
We all know that minor leaguers are not paid well, but the exact amount they receive will leave you jaw-dropping. In 2018, an average AAA baseball player makes about $15,000 according to The Athletic. The average single-A baseball player makes $6,000, while an average double-A baseball player makes $9,350. Like we said earlier, there has been a plan to increase the minimum salary of Rookies and Short-season level players.
For instance, the Rookie’s minimum weekly pay will be raised from $290 to $400. Players at the single-A rank will have their minimum weekly pay go from $290 to $500. The Double-A players earned the most after Triple-A players, with their minimum weekly pay going from $350 to $600. As you know that Triple-A players are at the top of the list with the highest pay going from $502 to $700 weekly.
What Is The Minor League Pay At Different Levels?
1. Rookie & Short-Season: $400 minimum weekly pay
2. Single-A: $500 minimum weekly pay
3. Double-A: $600 minimum weekly pay
4. Triple-A: $700 minimum weekly pay
That might look like moderate pay to you, but it isn’t! Let’s do some calculations. If a rookie earns $400 per week, he’ll go home with $1,600 per month. So, if the season only lasted for 5 months, it means he’ll earn just $8,000 in a whole year. Since offseason training and practice are not financially covered by the teams they’re signed to, they’ll have to pay for it themselves. That’s why you’d normally see them have another side hustle aside from professional baseball.
We weren’t exaggerating when we said that these players earn less than a high school janitor. It might sound odd to you, but it’s the basic truth! For the record, janitors in education systems go home with nothing less than $28,000 every year according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Clearly, a Minor Leaguer won’t make as much as a janitor even if he’s paid throughout a year of a Minor League season. They work, train, and practice for at least 12 hours per day and still don’t get paid for springtime training. It’s just ridiculous!
What Is The Average MLB Salary?
Major League Baseball players earn hundreds of millions of dollars for playing on the field and also go home with massive endorsements and Major League contracts. Here, we are not referring to big-money (free agents) players that are employed to be displayed on the Opening Day of the regular season.
What we are about to look into now is the average salaries of the top MLB players. These players earn far better than the Minor Leaguers. The average salary of a Major League Baseball player is around $4 million a year. It was in November of 2020 that the minimum salary of Major League Baseball players was increased from $555,000 to $570,500 per year.
What Is The Lowest Salary In The MLB?
In 2017, the minimum salary agreement that Major League Baseball had with players was $535,000 which was later increased to $545,000 in 2018 and $555,000 in 2019. The good news is that these players will now take home nothing less than $570,500 in the next season.
Which Is Better – AA Or AAA?
The highest MiLB level is the Triple-A or AAA rank. Any player at this rank has a great likelihood of being signed to play in the Major League team. It is way better than the double-A or AA rank.
Which Position In Baseball Makes The Most Money?
The highest-paid position in the MLB is the Designated Hitter. Players in this position earn higher than their teammates. This is just to tell you that players in the MLB don’t earn the same amount of money.
Final Words
Minor League Baseball players don’t get good pay even if people think that Baseball is a lucrative sport in America. Unlike their Major League Baseball counterparts that are well paid in millions of dollars each year, Minor Leaguers receive a squat salary. We’ve reached the end of this informative article. We hope that this article helped you find resources in your quest to know the average salary of a AAA baseball player. Do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or comments. Thanks!
