Six Cincinnati Reds players get a raise as they prepare for the weekend games…
As a part of the newest collective bargaining agreement, Major League Baseball sets aside $50,000,000 to be handed out to players who are not yet arbitration eligible for their performances. Players can earn bonuses for things like winning the MVP or Cy Young (or earning votes for these awards), winning the Rookie of the Year, being named on the all-MLB team. Whatever money is left over after that is then handed out based on a WAR formula. 101 players got a bonus this year.
While the Reds didn’t have anyone get bonus money for any of the awards, they did have six players get some bonus money for their WAR contributions. The biggest bonus went to outfielder TJ Friedl. Matt McLain, Andrew Abbott, Will Benson, Elly De La Cruz, and Spencer Steer also wound up getting a nice chunk of change deposited into their accounts just in time for Christmas.
Players that are not yet arbitration eligible tend to be paid league minimum or very close to it. The league minimum for 2023 was $720,000 for a full season. Only TJ Friedl and Spencer Steer made that much in 2023 because they spent the entire year with the Reds. The others either began the season in the minor leagues or in Will Benson’s case, spent time there after being optioned.
For five of the six players on the Reds who got a bonus, it’s a bonus that is at least 50% of what they got for playing for Cincinnati during the 2023 season. Matt McLain got the second highest bonus, but he actually got the largest “raise” from what he was paid during the regular season because he did not spend a full season in the big leagues and thus his base salary was lower than that of TJ Friedl.
The money these players get is not coming directly from the Cincinnati Reds. The $50,000,000 bonus pool is funded by Major League Baseball. The Reds, of course, help fund that in multiple ways, so they are in a round-about way paying for some of this.
