MLB Salary Cuts: How Much Money Will Mike Trout, Gerrit Cole, Highest-Paid Players Make In 2020?

Time is running out for MLB to salvage its 2020 season, and the players’ union is unhappy with the league’s latest plan. The owners have proposed massive salary cuts for the sport’s highest-paid players in order to offset the revenue that will be lost by playing games without fans in attendance.

On March 26, the union agreed for players to be paid prorated salaries based on the number of regular-season games. With the proposal calling for the season to be cut from 162 games to 82 contests, that means slashing the players’ expected pay in half.

The new plan calls for those salaries to be cut even further with the richest players forfeiting a higher percentage of their pay.

Any player set to make the league minimum ($563,500) would make 90% of his prorated salary, according to ESPN, leaving them with $256,706 for the truncated 2020 season. For every dollar any player is set to make between $563,501 and $1 million, they’d make 72.5% of their prorated salary under the new proposal.

Here is the complete proposed scale, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

The salary scale in the proposal is:

- $0 to $563,500 (league minimum) paid at 90%
- $563,501 to $1 million paid at 72.5%
- $1,000,001 to $5 million paid at 50%
- $5,000,001 to $10 million paid at 40%
- $10,000,001 to $20 million paid at 30%
- $20,000,001 and up paid at 20%
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 27, 2020

What does that mean for MLB’s top superstars? Players that were supposed to make historic salaries would be paid like average players.

Mike Trout became the highest-paid player in baseball last year when he signed a 12-year, $426.5 million contract. The deal called for him to make a record $37.666 million in 2020.

Under the owners’ proposal? Trout’s actual base salary for an 82-game season would plummet to $5,748,577, according to Passan.

Before spring training was halted and Opening Day was pushed back on March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic, 220 players were set to earn salaries of at least $5.75 million in 2020.

MLB’s proposal reportedly includes $200 million total in playoff bonuses. Trout could make an additional $2.5 million if the Los Angeles Angels win the World Series.

Trout could receive an additional $2.5M or so in postseason bonuses. The proposal calls for a $25M distribution to players if the division series are played, $50M for the league championship series and $125M for the World Series. The highest-paid players get the biggest splits.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 27, 2020

The New York Yankees gave Gerrit Cole the largest contract in history for a pitcher in December. The nine-year, $324 million deal is supposed to pay him $36 million per season. Cole’s salary would be knocked down to $5,579,855 if the union agreed to the proposal.

Washington Nationals star Max Scherzer’s initial salary was listed at $35.92 million, putting him just behind Cole. Reigning World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg, Houston Astros pitcher Zack Greinke and Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado were scheduled for $35 million salaries in 2020, according to Spotrac.

A $35 million salary becomes $5,478,620 of actual pay under the new formula.

Trout has a $19,065,843 million prorated salary for an 82-game schedule. The prorated salary for Strasburg, Greinke and Arenado is $17,716,049.