Owners' Proposed Pay Cuts for Top MLB Players Are Downright Ludicrous
MLB fans have been hanging on every single update that has come out about the owners and the players exchanging plans to play a 2020 season. First came prorated salaries, followed by a proposed revenue split, and the results were players not being happy.
The top players in the league may not even consider the latest idea for pay cuts.
Sources: Under MLB proposal to players, a player making $35 mil in 2020 would make about $7.8 mil. A player making 10 mil would get about 2.9 mil and a player making a mil would make $434k.
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) May 26, 2020
A player making $1 million would still take a huge cut, but nowhere near what would happen for top players in the league. Earning around $7.8 million is still an amazing year of income, but it is not what was promised when signing a $35 million-per-year contract. Factor in the massive taxes on these contracts and some players may be wondering if the risk of injury or illness is worth the money.
Potential salary cuts in MLB plan, sources tell @JesseRogersESPN and me:
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 26, 2020
Full-year Proposal
$563.5K $262K
$1M $434K
$2M $736K
$5M $1.64M
$10M $2.95M
$15M $4.05M
$20M $5.15M
$25M $6.05M
$30M $6.95M
$35M $7.84M
Continuing to offer up pay cuts is a bold strategy on the part of the owners. They need the players active in order to make money in 2020 and going back on several offers, including prorated salaries, is likely not going over well. The simple solution is prorating it to the amount of games played.
Yet, expecting top players to earn far less than half of their salary is a tough ask.