Last week, Major League Baseball announced that minor league salaries would increase in 2021. Of course, there’s still a proposal on the table to eliminate as many as 42 minor-league teams. If that goes through, MLB might pay minor leaguers more next year, but there will be fewer of them.
The Cubs are getting ahead of the curve by increasing salaries for their minor league players this year, per Mark Gonzales of the Tribune:
All Cubs minor-leaguers playing under the terms of their first-year contracts will receive a raise ranging from $112 to $295 a week, depending on their level and year of professional ball. The average player will receive a raise of about $200 a week, which equates to an average increase of about 50%, with players at the lower-minor-league levels (below Double A) receiving an average increase of about 75%.
That’s still not a huge amount of money, but it’s a significant increase from previous years and will help minor leaguers eat better, among other things. The article says that the initiative for the increase came directly from Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts.
Kudos to Tom Ricketts for taking the Cubs in the right direction. Last year, the Blue Jays were the first team to announce pay increases for their minor-league players. Other teams should follow their lead.