Pirates Business: Minor League Splits

The season is almost upon us and come this time next week, I’ll be breaking down the opening day payroll for the Pittsburgh Pirates. With that in mind, I wanted to cover something you won’t hear about anywhere else—minor league splits.

As I detailed when I covered optional assignments, pre-arbitration players typically sign split contracts, which pay different rates for players’ time in the majors versus their time in the minors. While many know and understand what a player is making in the majors, not many understand or discuss a player’s minor league pay.

Other payroll sources like Spotrac and Roster Resource take these minor league expenses into account, as all players on the 40-man roster…