Study shows MLB average salary up 11% YOY to $4.9 million

NEW YORK — A year removed from a labor lockout that postponed Opening Day, major league players are enjoying their biggest salary spike in more than two decades.

The average Major League Baseball salary was up 11.1% to a record $4.9 million to start this season, the largest jump for the sport since 2001, according to a study by The Associated Press.

The surge follows a spending spree in the first offseason since players and owners agreed to a five-year collective bargaining agreement last March.

«It's a step in the right direction,» said Texas Rangers shortstop Marcus Semien, part of the union's eight-member executive subcommittee that helped negotiate the CBA.

The New York Mets led the way with a $355 million payroll, $70 million more than the previous high for a season's start. Seven teams topped $200 million.

Oakland was last at $58 million — less than the combined salaries of Mets pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, who tied for the major league high of $43.3 million.

This year's percentage rise was the largest since a 13.9% jump in 2001.

«It's about damn time, honestly,» said Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Zach Eflin, who signed a $40 million, three-year deal in December. «It's been pretty much a joke the past five, 10 years about the way the players have been paid the minimum salaries.»

Aaron Judge, Manny Machado, Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa and Jacob deGrom all got big deals during an offseason that saw the average shatter the previous high of $4.45 million in 2017.

Payrolls for the Opening Day rosters of the 30 major league teams, obtained by The Associated Press from management and player sources. They include salaries and pro-rated shares of signing bonuses for players on the 26-man active