With the 2011-2012 NBA season in jeopardy and after a brief lockout in the NFL during the summer, it is a refreshing change of pace that Major League Baseball is close to finalizing a new collective bargaining agreement. The five-year deal will extend baseball's run of labor peace to 22 years.
Among many changes in the new CBA, which is expected to be finalized by Tuesday per Ronald Blum of the Associated Press, include blood testing for HGH, an expanded group of Super Twos (arbitration-eligible players with between two and three years of major league service time), a luxury tax for both draft spending and international signings, and an increase in the minimum salary.
The new minimum salary of $480,000 is a 16% increase over the $414,000 minimum salary in 2011.
The MLB minimum salary has risen over the last decade or so:
| MLB Minimum Salary | |
|---|---|
| Year | MLB Minimum |
| 2003 | $300,000 |
| 2004 | $300,000 |
| 2005 | $316,000 |
| 2006 | $327,500 |
| 2007 | $380,000 |
| 2008 | $390,000 |
| 2009 | $400,000 |
| 2010 | $400,000 |
| 2011 | $414,000 |
| 2012 | $480,000 |
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Source: MLB CBA 2003 & 2006, AP, & Baseball-Reference.com |
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What does this mean? Well, for rookies and players with under three years of service time it's a nice raise though not life-altering by any means. From a team budget perspective, if there are 10 players (for example) with between zero to three years service time in the active roster, the cumulative increased salary is less than $1 million in total. However, every team has a budget and you never know when an extra $1 million or so is the difference between adding an extra player.
For baseball news and information on how the new CBA will affect the local teams, be sure to read True Blue LA and Halos Heaven.