MLB players get record postseason payout of $69 million
In yet the latest example of MLB’s embarrassment of riches, the league announced Monday that players earned a record $69.8 million from the postseason, their share of gate receipts from playoff games.
The Kansas City Royals, the World Series winners, got the biggest piece of the pie: $25.1 million or $370K per playoff share. New York Mets players, who won the NL but lost the World Series, earned $16.7 million or $300K per playoff share.
[Elsewhere: Johnny Cueto turned down six-year, $120 million offer from Arizona]
Here’s how the MLB postseason pay system works: Players get a pool of 50 percent of the gate receipts from the wild-card games, 60 percent from the first three games of the ALDS and NLDS, then 60 percent from the first four games of the ALCS, NLCS and World Series. That totaled $69.8 million this season, surpassing the previous high of $65.3 million in 2012. That money is then divided amongst the 10 teams that made the postseason.
Players on those teams vote on whether to give full shares, partial shares or cash awards to people in the organization. Full-time players get full shares, but a rookie who joins the team for a week might get a partial share or cash award. From there, some teams give postseason checks to coaches, trainers, clubhouse attendants, the grounds crew and so on.
Here’s a rundown, per MLB, of the payouts for each playoff team and how they divided their shares:
• Kansas City Royals: (Share of Players’ Pool: $25,157,573.73; value of each of full share: $370,069.03) – The Royals issued 58 full shares, a total of 8.37 partial shares and 50 cash awards.
• New York Mets: (Share of Players’ Pool: $16,771,715.82; value of each of full share: $300,757.78) – The Mets issued 44 full shares, a total of 11.05 partial shares and 25 cash awards.
• Chicago Cubs: (Share of Players’ Pool: $8,385,857.91; value of each of full share: $122,327.59) – The Cubs issued 60 full shares, a total of 8.25 partial shares and 13 cash awards.
• Toronto Blue Jays: (Share of Players’ Pool: $8,385,857.91; value of each of full share: $141,834.47) – The Blue Jays issued 46 full shares, a total of 12.25 partial shares and 27 cash awards.
• Houston Astros: (Share of Players’ Pool: $2,271,169.85; value of each of full share: $36,783.25) – The Astros issued 53 full shares, a total of 8.5 partial shares and nine cash awards.
• Los Angeles Dodgers: (Share of Players’ Pool: $2,271,169.85; value of each of full share: $34,168.74) – The Dodgers issued 48 full shares, a total of 17.18 partial shares and 11 cash awards.
• St. Louis Cardinals: (Share of Players’ Pool: $2,271,169.85; value of each of full share: $34,223.65) – The Cardinals issued 59 full shares, a total of 7.143 partial shares and two cash awards.
• Texas Rangers: (Share of Players’ Pool: $2,271,169.85; value of each of full share: $34,074.40) – The Rangers issued 55 full shares, a total of 11.125 partial shares and 13 cash awards.
• New York Yankees: (Share of Players’ Pool: $1,048,232.24; value of each of full share: $13,979.99) – The Yankees issued 59 full shares and a total of 15.98 partial shares.
• Pittsburgh Pirates: (Share of Players’ Pool: $1,048,232.24; value of each of full share: $15,884.20) – The Pirates issued 57 full shares, a total of 8.93 partial shares and one cash award.
For some players, this is quite a boon. Take, for instance, Royals’ infielder Raul A. Mondesi, who had never played in the big leagues before getting on the World Series roster. While it’s unclear what type of share he got from his fellow Royals, anything is a nice chunk of change for a minor-leaguer. Same with Mets shortstop Matt Reynolds, who was on the postseason roster for the NLCS and World Series, but had no previous big-league experience.
[Related: Report: Tigers strike first, land Jordan Zimmermann to stabilize rotation]
In fact, any player making the major-league minimum, which was $507K in 2015, got a nice payday with a full World Series share. That includes Mets rookie Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz and Michael Conforto, all of whom earned a pro-rated portion of that $507K after midseason call-ups.
An extra $300K for those guys? That’s a nice early Christmas present.
More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:
– – – – – – –
Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
