Baseball America follows the money to find out how a confluence of recent events, including the unionization of minor league players, the 2022 Collective Bargaining Agreement and MLB’s takeover of the minor leagues, has altered the economic realities of the game.
*Players are not paid during the December-January “dead period,” when they cannot be contacted by their organizations
When Major League Baseball began operating the minor leagues in 2021, it ushered in a new era for players.
Even before MLB and the newly-formed minor league division of the MLB Players Association reached a deal on the first-ever minor league collective bargaining agreement in 2023, pay and standards of living had improved.
Once the CBA arrived, the transformation was complete.
Players who remained after the minor leagues were scaled back and reorganized are now experiencing
