Major League Baseball’s average salary shot up to more than US$3.8 million this year in the steepest rise since 2001, putting big leaguers on track to top the US$4 million barrier for the first time next year.
The Major League Baseball Players Association said on Tuesday that the average salary was US$3,818,923, up from US$3,386,212 last year. The 12.78 percent hike was the biggest since a 12.83 percent rise from 2000 to 2001.
Player salaries are spurting after several years of more modest gains. The increase is fueled by record revenue in the US$9 billion range, much of it from national television contracts and club deals with regional sports networks.
The average topped US$1 million for the first time in 1992, crossed the US$2 million barrier in 2001 and the US$3 million mark in 2010.
MLB’s wages are a stark contrast to the economy at large. The average US wage rose 1.3 percent last year to US$43,041, according to the US Social Security Administration.
Figures are based on 910 players. The union has based its annual studies on rosters and disabled lists as of Aug. 31 — the last day before active rosters expand from 25 per team to 40.
The commissioner’s office, which uses slightly different methods, put its average at US$3,726,243, an increase of 12 percent from last year’s US$3,326,645. MLB revised its figure on Tuesday from an initial average of US$3,692,123 it calculated last week.
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