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

Major League Baseball players are often considered multi-millionaires, lottery winners in a way. And with the numbers thrown about in the media when discussing signings, it is easy to understand why. Most people on the planet simply can not comprehend a salary that runs to hundreds of millions of dollars.

In an average person’s working life, they will earn something in the region of $2.7 million. That is between birth and the grave. Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander will earn that same lifetime’s money in just 23 days.

But when the focus is on the top end of the board, the bottom often gets overlooked. While the top 50 highest-paid players get 30% of the money in the league, the average salary is $1.5 million, meaning that the bottom end is pretty heavy to balance out those big paychecks.

2023 minimum MLB salary

Despite the star players of each team earning millions, the very fact that the Collective Bargaining Agreement specifies a minimum salary should indicate that it is needed. In fact, there are 129 players this season who are earning the bare minimum, with five more earning just $100 per year above the minimum and another five just $100 more than that.

There are some bona fide stars in that group as well, with Oneill Cruz, Anthony Volpe, and Charlie Culberson amongst the players on the minimum. One of these players hovering near the league minimum is Josh Jung, the third baseman for the Texas Rangers, and without doubt, the steal of the year at only $721,485.

The CBA lays out a schedule to raise the league minimum each year, and this season it is set at $720,000.

While the highest-paid MLB athlete is currently split between two players, Scherzer and Verlander, the lowest-paid is a 45-way tie between those on the league minimum.

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

Lowest-paid MLB players