Who is the lowest-paid player in the MLB? Is there a minimum salary?

Many people might think all players in the MLB earn millions of dollars a year as the salaries which are in the spotlight each year are the ones like Mike Trout's 37 million, Gerrit Cole's 36 million ore Nolan Arenado's salary, also way up in the top list.

However, the median income, which has been lowered to $1.15 million in the past season, paints a totally different picture to the earnings of MLB players, revealing the huge amount of players earning just above the minimum salary.

2021 minimum salary

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As mentioned above, despite the star players of each team are earning millions, there are still lots of players who earn very little in comparison. This is the main reason why there is a minimum salary implemented in the MLB rules, in order to ensure those players get rewarded for their effort. 

The MLB minimum wage established varies each year, having had a constant increase for the past fifteen years. The 2021 minimum salary was set at $570,500 dollars a year, having grown by 90% over the last 18 years.

Lowest-paid player in the MLB

In contrast with the highest-paid player in the NFL, the lowest-paid attribute cannot be entitled to a single player as there are a total of 30 players earning at the exact minimum limit salary and are, therefore, all tied as the lowest-paid players in the MLB.

Those players are currently earning an amount of $570,500 a year, which despite being still a handsome amount of money when compared to the 32 million earned by mike trout, it seems ridiculously low.

Lowest-paid MLB players

Below is a table with the lowest-paid players’ positions, teams, and earnings.