Why Do We Know Players' Contracts?

A friend posed the question to me over the weekend, "Why is it we know how much baseball players make?". It is a good question. Knowing how much players make alters how fans feel about them. A player making $10 million a year who strikes out with the bases loaded gets much more anger directed their way than a player making league minimum. Knowing how much they make skews our perceptions of players. We don't just look at them as simple ball players and just look at their physical talents. Instead we scale our opinion of them based on their paycheck.

But why is that? Aren't employment contracts private? I don't know what my friends and neighbors make, so why should I know how much baseball players make? Is there a legal reason these contracts are made public?

Well, the question mark key on my computer is starting to wear out, so I'll stop posing the questions and start answering them. But first, I want to give a thanks to Jeff at Cot's Baseball Contracts for helping with this investigation. If you have not visited Jeff's site, you should - it is the best source for MLB contract information I've seen.

The first answer is, no. Baseball players' contracts are not public. All of MLB's financial information is private, but certain information inevitably leaks out, and in some cases, is offered up. Teams are required to share player salary information and supply that information to both MLB and to the Players' Union. This process puts the information in the hands of numerous people, too many to keep it under wraps. Many people consolidate this information and publish it for us, like the USA Today Salaries Database. They indicate this data comes from the MLB Players Association, club officials, and documents files with MLB's central office.

There is a strong public desire to know this information. So, rather than fight a losing battle, MLB actually makes public all players' salaries on opening day rosters. So, while technically the information is private, no one is bothering to keep it private. Another leak comes from agents. Agents who sign players to big contracts are very excited to share their success with the world. Makes them look good, boosts their client's ego, and helps attract more business.

The one thing we do not generally know, unless it too is leaked, are any particulars unique to a player's contract. There is a standard contract that is used for all players, but teams are free to add additional clauses to the contract. For example, Mike Lowell's current contract has a clause that states that he gets a suite in any hotel the team stays at while on the road. How do I know this? Mike actually tells us that in his autobiography, Deep Drive, which is a very good read!

So, we are not generally privy to a player's contract outside of the basic salary structure. Any additional information, such as incentive clauses, and extra perks, are either offered by a player or agent, or leaked by an insider. So, contracts are "private", but kept about as private as gossip at the local coffee shop.

Hope that answers your question, Bill!