Major League Baseball’s Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Players Association requires player accrue at least six years of service time before they are eligible for free agency. Players who have been in the league less than six years do not make the eye-popping salaries; only those of their more experienced peers steal the headlines.
As a result, some of the best players in the game are the least well-compensated.
More news: Blue Jays Offered Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ‘About $500 Million’: Report
Such is the case for Paul Skenes. The reigning National League Rookie of the Year enters 2025 as the odds-on favorite win the NL Cy Young Award, given annually to the top pitcher in the league.
Stacy Revere/Getty Images
Nonetheless, Skenes will not even make $1 million this year. Second-year players, like Skenes, are typically assigned a salary by their team in line with other second-year players around the league.
More news: Yankees’ Gerrit Cole to Undergo Tommy John Surgery, Ending His Season
According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Pittsburgh Pirates will pay Skenes $875,000 if he spends each day of the season on their major league roster.
Skenes, Paul
Pittsburgh Pirates
1.000
2024
03/11/2025
3/11/25. 2025. $282,474. $875,000 in Majors.— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 11, 2025
Skenes, 22, went 11-3 with a 1.86 earned-run average in 2024. He made the National League All-Star team, finished third in NL Cy Young Award voting, and even collected a single eighth-place MVP vote.
Eleven years ago, Mike Trout became the first player ever to make a salary of $1 million within his first three season at the major league level. At the time, Trout had finished second in the previous two American League MVP races, made two All-Star teams, and won two Silver Slugger Awards in his only two full MLB seasons.
More news: MLB Pitcher Accused of Murder to Stand Trial in April: Report
Trout would cash in eventually, signing a then-record 12-year, $426.5 million contract extension in March 2019. For years, MLB stars have counted on making up for their underpaid early-career seasons after becoming eligible for free agency.
In Dec. 2024, outfielder Juan Soto cleared Trout’s record salary by a mile, signing a 15-year, $765 million free agent contract with the New York Mets.
More news: MLB’s Oldest Living Player, Who Won World Series With Yankees, Dies at 100
No second-year major leaguer is going to make that kind of money, whether they play for the Pirates or not. But considering how much the salaries for baseball’s top free agents have escalated in the six years since Trout signed his extension, it’s remarkable to see how little salaries have budged for second-year stars like Skenes.
For more MLB news, Newsweek Sports.