MLB 2020 Salaries For Mike Trout, Gerrit Cole; Highest-Paid Players Shrink In 60-Game Season

Along with a 60-game schedule comes massive pay cuts in the 2020 MLB season. With 102 games lost, players will only make 37% of their original salaries.

On March 26, two weeks after the start of the season was postponed indefinitely, the players’ union agreed to be paid a prorated version of their salaries based on the number of regular-season games played. The league implemented a 60-game season Tuesday after failed negotiations for a longer season.

What does that mean for the league’s highest-paid stars? Twelve players were set to make at least $30 million to play baseball this year. With their new prorated salaries, no player will even make $14 million.

According to Spotrac, 95 players had been set to make $14 million or more in 2020, including the likes of outfielder Jay Bruce and middling starting pitcher Alex Cobb. Forty-seven players had salaries of at least $20 million for a 162-game season.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Mike Trout was going to make $37.67 million this season. Now, he’ll lead the league with a $13.95 million salary. The Los Angeles Angels inked Trout to a 12-year, $426 million contract last year.

The New York Yankees made Gerrit Cole MLB’s highest-paid pitcher in the winter with a nine-year, $324 million deal. Cole’s $36 million salary will shrink to $13.33 million.

The owners had tried to negotiate a deal to pay the league’s top players significantly less. In late May, a plan was rejected that would’ve given Trout a $5.77 million salary for an 82-game season. Cole would’ve made $5.58 million if that proposal had been accepted.

Max Scherzer’s $35.92 million salary becomes $13.3 million over 60 games. Zack Greinke, Stephen Strasburg and Nolan Arenado will all go from making $35 million to $12.96 million.

Just before the start of the 2019 season, the Houston Astros gave Justin Verlander a two-year, $66 million extension that would begin in 2020. Verlander is set to make $12.22 million this year, essentially making the contract worth $45.22 million.

The Los Angeles Dodgers were set to pay David Price and Clayton Kershaw a combined $63 million this year. The two starters will instead make $23.33 million total for a two-month regular season.

The New York Yankees’ league-leading $250.35 million payroll becomes a $92.72 million payroll in a 60-game season. The Dodgers’ payroll goes from $222.39 million to $82.37 million.

The 2020 season is scheduled to start on July 23 or July 24 and conclude on Sept. 27.