The season is almost upon us and come this time next week, I’ll be breaking down the opening day payroll for the Pittsburgh Pirates. With that in mind, I wanted to cover something you won’t hear about anywhere else—minor league splits.
As I detailed when I covered optional assignments, pre-arbitration players typically sign split contracts, which pay different rates for players’ time in the majors versus their time in the minors. While many know and understand what a player is making in the majors, not many understand or discuss a player’s minor league pay.
Other payroll sources like Spotrac and Roster Resource take these minor league expenses into account, as all players on the 40-man roster are included in payroll calculations.