NEW YORK — Major League Baseball’s average salary ahead of a postponed Opening Day remained at around $4.4 million for the fifth straight season, according to a study of contracts by The Associated Press.
Following an offseason when Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Rendon and Christian Yelich all agreed to $200 million-plus deals, the flattened salary curve is evidence of a shrinking portion of the pie for baseball’s middle class. The stagnant stretch is unprecedented since the free-agent era dawned in 1976.
And that is before taking into account any decrease caused by a shortened season in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.