

Most rookies make close to the league minimum, which opens up more money for the star players. The large contracts for veteran players can also be attributed to the much smaller contracts for the rookies. Take for example Bobby Bonilla, who is more famous for his deferred-money deal that pays him $1.193 million every July 1 until 2035 than for anything he has done on the field.īut not all baseball players are so lucky. While the guaranteed money gives top baseball players security, when it is combined with the lack of a salary cap, baseball clubs can be creative in how they structure their contracts.
POTENTIAL BRYCE HARPER CONTRACT FULL
Players receive the full amount of the money promised in the contracts, even if they do not play a single inning for the team (see e.g., Josh Johnson and his one-year, $8 million deal with the Padres). MLB contracts, unlike many of their counterparts in the NFL, are also guaranteed. The New York Yankees, for example, have paid the penalty for fourteen straight years, and although they finally fell below the threshold in 2018, they’re already expected to return to paying the luxury tax this year. While this “competitive balance tax” is meant to level out the playing field, it has not completely discouraged teams from exceeding the threshold. While there is no salary cap, there is one limitation: teams are subject to a luxury tax, which require teams to pay a percentage of every dollar that exceeds the threshold set by the Office of the Commissioner. This is at least partly due to the strength of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), which routinely negotiates strong Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs). Unlike the NFL and the NBA, MLB teams can offer whatever they like to their star players. First, there is no salary cap or maximum contract limitations in the MLB. MLB contracts top the list of largest deals in sports for a few reasons. Topping the list are Stanton, Alex Rodriguez (10 years, $275m), Miguel Cabrera (10 years, $292m), Robinson Cano, and Albert Pujols (each 10 years, $240m).
POTENTIAL BRYCE HARPER CONTRACT PROFESSIONAL
sports go to superstar professional baseball players. Harper isn’t unique in this regard, though many of the largest contracts in U.S. But whatever form Harper’s contract eventually takes, it will likely feature one of the highest annual payments in all of professional sports. As the season’s start inches closer and closer, sports journalists conjecture that Harper may opt for a short-term contract that will allow him to boost his value in anticipation of an even larger long-term deal after 2020. Back in November, he reportedly rejected a 10-year, $300 million contract offered by the Nationals, which would’ve been the second largest contract only to Giancarlo Stanton’s 13-year, $325 million deal from 2014 with the Marlins. There’s good reason for the crazed speculation: Harper’s future contract could be one of the largest in MLB history. With spring training just around the corner, exasperated baseball fans will likely have a Harper decision soon. Harper’s cryptic tweet on Februthat simply said “Loading…” restarted the sports media speculation that a deal is imminent. Whether the absence of a deal so far is due to clubs’ desire to appear uninterested, complications with a potential salary bubble, informal collusion among the clubs, or Harper’s indecision is any outsider’s guess. But now it is February and Harper remains unsigned. Even before the Washington Nationals’ 2018 season ended, Harper’s name splashed headlines that speculated on where he would be playing next and for how much. As the rumor mill continues to buzz around Major League Baseball’s off-season deals, one name persistently comes up: Bryce Harper.
