Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Baseball's Average Salary Drops
For the first time since 1995, Opening Day salaries are down. The average fell 3% this year, from $2.55 million to $2.49 million. The number of players earning $1 million or more fell again, to 374, while the median salary remained stable at $800,000.
The Yankees are in a universe of their own: their $182.8 million payroll is $57.6 million more than second-place Boston. Put another way, even if they released Mike Mussina and Mariano Rivera, the Yankees would still be outspending the Twins, Athletics and Marlins combined.
The Red Sox, in turn, are spending $24 million more than third-place Anaheim. The New York Mets have the NL's highest payroll, $100.6 million, with 1/6 of this money going to Mo Vaughn, who at least was kind enough to injure himself severely enough for the club to recoup most of his salary from an insurer.
At the other end of the spectrum, those new stadiums haven't loosened the purse strings in Cincinnati ($43 million), Pittsburgh ($32.2 million) or Milwaukee (a major league low $27.5 million). MLB trimmed the Expos' player budget by almost $9 million, while the Texas Rangers trimmed their own by nearly $50 million.
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For the first time since 1995, Opening Day salaries are down. The average fell 3% this year, from $2.55 million to $2.49 million. The number of players earning $1 million or more fell again, to 374, while the median salary remained stable at $800,000.
The Yankees are in a universe of their own: their $182.8 million payroll is $57.6 million more than second-place Boston. Put another way, even if they released Mike Mussina and Mariano Rivera, the Yankees would still be outspending the Twins, Athletics and Marlins combined.
The Red Sox, in turn, are spending $24 million more than third-place Anaheim. The New York Mets have the NL's highest payroll, $100.6 million, with 1/6 of this money going to Mo Vaughn, who at least was kind enough to injure himself severely enough for the club to recoup most of his salary from an insurer.
At the other end of the spectrum, those new stadiums haven't loosened the purse strings in Cincinnati ($43 million), Pittsburgh ($32.2 million) or Milwaukee (a major league low $27.5 million). MLB trimmed the Expos' player budget by almost $9 million, while the Texas Rangers trimmed their own by nearly $50 million.
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