Aug 10, 2020 5 min read

Major League Baseball’s eye-popping salaries took an astonishing dive during the coronavirus pandemic to their lowest level in nearly a quarter-century, according to a study by the Associated Press.

Washington pitcher Max Scherzer topped the shortened season’s list at $17.8 million, his income partially protected by a huge signing bonus. That is the lowest amount for baseball’s highest-paid player since Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Kevin Brown made $15.7 million in 2000.

Players receive about 37% of their 2020 pay under the formula agreed to in March by MLB and the union, a figure the union wound up keeping during bitter negotiations that failed to produce an agreement. Commissioner Rob Manfred unilaterally announced a 60-game regular-season schedule that started four months late on July 23, down from the normal 162 games for each team.

Salaries averaged $1,295,942 on expanded opening-day rosters after prorated pay was factored in, according to the AP study. That must feel like a throwback paycheck, similar to a vintage jersey – it’s the lowest average in the AP’s annual opening-day study since $1,176,967 in 1996 and down from $4,375,486 at the start of the 2019 season.

Unhappy with flattening salaries during the first four years of a collective bargaining agreement that runs to December 2021, players spoke even before the curtailed season of seeking large changes. Talks figure to be the most contentious since the 1994-95 strike, the last shortened seasons before this one.

Even with contracts at full value and projected for 25-man active rosters, this year’s average of $4,520,010 would have represented just a 3.1% increase over 2016’s $4,381,980.

Part of the drop in the average was caused by roster expansion to an active limit of 30 per team at the season’s start, adding more major leaguers making the $563,500 minimum or close to it. There were 1,007 players on opening-day rosters and injured lists, up from 878 last year.

National League

Philadelphia 13, Atlanta 8: Didi Gregorius hit a grand slam, Bryce Harper blasted a three-run shot and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves 13-8 Monday night, giving Aaron Nola his first win in nearly a year.

Nola (1-1) allowed one run, two hits and struck out 10 in eight innings. The ace right-hander was 0-5 in nine starts since his last win at Boston on August 20, 2019. The Phillies had lost Nola’s last nine starts, scoring only 27 runs combined in those games.

Roman Quinn, Jean Segura and J.T. Realmuto added solo shots for Philadelphia, which bounced back after getting swept in Sunday’s doubleheader to earn a split of the four-game series.

Mets’ Stroman opts out: Marcus Stroman’s recovery from a torn left calf muscle was almost complete, and he was in line to possibly make his season debut for the New York Mets next week against the Miami Marlins.

But the idea of traveling to one of the country’s coronavirus hot spots played a factor in Stroman’s decision Monday to opt out of the 2020 season.

“Obviously, you see the Cardinals, the Marlins, you see spikes everywhere in the country, you see protocols not being handled properly from citizens everywhere,” Stroman said during a Zoom call. “You see us going to Florida soon. That was a big discussion I had with my family. Going to see the Marlins soon, that’s something I don’t want to be in that situation.”

Interleague

Cards-Tigers DH postponed: A doubleheader between the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers this week is being postponed to allow more time for additional COVID-19 testing.

MLB opted to postpone Thursday’s doubleheader to continue additional testing while players and staff are quarantined before the team returns to play. More details about the Cardinals’ resumption of play will be announced later this week.

The Cardinals had a series against Pittsburgh set to start on Monday postponed after a weekend series against the Cubs was scrapped due to three positive coronavirus tests. St. Louis had two more players and a staff member test positive for the virus on Friday and have had eight positive players overall, including star catcher Yadier Molina.

There have now been 29 games postponed by Major League Baseball because of coronavirus concerns. The Cardinals have not played since July 30 and have had 15 games scrapped.

American League

A’s Laureano says Astros coach insulted mother: Oakland outfielder Ramon Laureano says Houston Astros hitting coach Álex Cintrón made a crude remark about his mother that prompted a benches-clearing incident Sunday, and Athletics manager Bob Melvin wants Cintrón punished harshly by Major League Baseball.

Laureano said Monday he regrets charging toward Houston’s dugout to fight Cintrón after the two exchanged words during the seventh inning of a Sunday’s game. Speaking before a game against the Los Angeles Angels, Laureano said Cintrón began jawing at him when Laureano reacted angrily after being hit by a pitch from Houston rookie Humberto Castellanos. “I should have kept my cool because I wasted my time with that guy,” Laureano said.