Year

Minimum Salary

Average Salary

% Change

Pension

Contri-butions

Miscellaneous Provisions/

Key Developments

Pre-CBA

1967

$7,000

$19,000

CBA 1

1968

$10,000

Not avail.

$4,100,000

Maximum salary cut reduced from 25% to 20%. Commissioner to arbitrate player grievances.

1969

$10,000

$24,909

$5,400,000

New TV deal brings showdown over pension: players win increased contributions, higher benefits, reduction of eligibility from five years’ service to four, other concessions.

CBA 2

1970

$12,000

$29,303

17.6

$5,450,000

Players to get termination pay if cut during season or in spring training. Owners recognize players’ right to negotiate through agents, accept impartial arbitrator for player grievances

1971

$12,750

$31,543

7.6

$5,450,000

Arbitrator upholds Alex Johnson’s grievance, ruling that players with severe emotional disturbances must be treated the same as those with physical ailments.

1972

$13,500

$34,092

8.1

$5,450,000

First in-season strike, over pension benefits, ends when owners agree to use $490,000 of surplus to fund most requested increases. Supreme Court upholds MLB’s antitrust exemption.

CBA 3

1973

$15,000

$36,566

7.3

$6,150,000

Salary arbitration introduced for players with two full, or three partial, major league seasons. 5-year veterans can’t be farmed without their consent; 10-year veterans who have been on the same club for five years can’t be traded without their consent.

1974

$15,000

$40,839

11.7

$6,150,000

Arbitrator grants Catfish Hunter free agency after A’s owner Charles O. Finley fails to pay deferred compensation as required in Hunter’s contract.

1975

$16,000

$44,676

9.4

$6,450,000

Arbitrator grants free agency to Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally, ruling that MLB’s reserve clause gives clubs only a one-year option, not a perpetual right of renewal.

CBA 4

1976

$19,000

$51,501

15.3

$8,300,000

Spring-training showdown over free agency ends when Commissioner Kuhn directs clubs to open training camps. Eventual deal provides for free agency after six years, with limits: a player can become a free agent only once every five years, and may negotiate with no more than 12 clubs in addition to his current employer. Clubs draft rights to negotiate with particular free agents. A team which signs a free agent must compensate the club losing him with its first- or second-round pick in the next amateur draft. Kuhn blocks Charles O. Finley’s attempt to sell his best players rather than losing them to free agency.

1977

$19,000

$76,066

47.7

$8,300,000

1978

$21,000

$99,876

31.3

$8,300,000

1979

$21,000

$113,558

13.7

$8,300,000

CBA 5

1980

$30,000

$143,756

26.6

$15,500,000

May strike averted by deferring issue of compensation for free agents until 1981. Two-year service requirement for arbitration retained.

1981

$32,500

$185,651

29.1

$15,500,000

Deadlock over free-agent compensation leads to 50-day midseason strike. Compensation issue settled by creating a player pool from which teams losing top free agents can pick. Free agents are divided into “Type A” (top 20% at their position -- team gets a pick from the player pool plus a draft pick), “Type B” (top 21-30% -- two draft picks) and everyone else (one draft pick). Five teams can avoid supplying players to the pool by agreeing not to sign Type A free agents for three years.

1982

$33,500

$241,497

30.1

$15,500,000

Marvin Miller retires as head of MLBPA, succeeded by Ken Moffett

1983

$35,000

$289,194

19.8

$15,500,000

Moffett fired; Miller returns briefly, then Donald Fehr named executive director

1984

$40,000

$329,408

13.9

$25,000,000

CBA 6

1985

$60,000

$371,571

12.8

$25,000,000

After two-day midseason strike, settlement raises arbitration threshold to three years effective 1987, increases pension benefits, eliminates re-entry draft and compensation for free agent signings

1986

$60,000

$412,520

11.0

$33,000,000

After season, clubs refuse to bid on one another’s free agents -- later held to be collusive behavior in violation of the CBA.

1987

$62,500

$412,474

0.0

$33,000,000

Second year of collusion

1988

$62,500

$438,729

6.4

$33,000,000

Third year of collusion

1989

$68,000

$512,804

16.9

$39,000,000

CBA 7

1990

$100,000

$578,930

12.9

$55,000,000

Most senior 17% of players with between two and three years of seniority eligible for arbitration. Pension increases, especially for pre-1959 players. Owners settle collusion claims for $280 million, agree to treble damages for future collusion.

1991

$100,000

$891,188

53.9

$55,000,000

1992

$109,000

$1,084,408

21.7

$55,000,000

Owners exercise option to reopen labor agreement, but can’t formulate a proposal

1993

$109,000

$1,120,254

3.3

$55,000,000

Owners still can’t agree upon a proposal, so terms of the CBA continue after its expiration

1994

$109,000

$1,188,679

6.1

$55,000,000

As negotiations intensify, Labor Secretary Robert Reich proposes a compromise: the players promise not to strike if the owners agree not to unilaterally implement their proposed salary cap during the offseason. Owners refuse. August 12 strike wipes out rest of the regular season and all of postseason.

1995

$109,000

$1,071,029

(9.9)

$55,000,000

On eve of regular season, players end strike after a federal judge enjoins the owners from implementing their current proposal. Opening Day pushed back, season cut to 144 games.

CBA 8

1996

$150,000

$1,176,967

9.9

$68,000,000

After season, owners ratify deal covering 1996-2000, with player option to extend it through 2001. For 1997-99, luxury tax of 35% (34% in 1999) on amount by which a club’s payroll exceeds the midpoint between the 5th and 6th highest-payroll clubs. Revenue-sharing plan phased in. Rule against filing for free agency twice in five years repealed.

1997

$150,000

$1,383.578

17.6

$68,000,000

1998

$170,000

$1,441,406

4.2

$68,000,000*

1999

$200,000

$68,000,000*

2000

$200,000‡

$68,000,000*