They might make more then you think. My nephew was drafted by the Expo's a number of years ago. $350,000 signing bonus, $75,000 per year, three years guaranteed. He was resigned at $125,000 per year, three more years. He never rose above AA.
He is now 26 and coaches at training camps and is making $80,000 a year.
His father (my Brother-in-law), who played one season for the Expo's once explained to me that the pros keep a lot of guys around for several years, even though they will never make the pros. This is so they can fill out the roster's in the minors, some of these guys can make up to 200K.
The sad part of the above is his father convinced him, when he was 19, to turn down a full ride scholarship at Pepperdine, to go pro.
Wow! Thanks for the info. I had no idea. I had friends who played in the minors, but that was much further back than I like to admit, and they were not making that kind of money. Your nephew sounds like quite an athlete. I understand your feelings about the Pepperdine scholarship, but he is only 26 years old and can certainly still do anything in life that he wants. Actually, his unique sports background, because it attests to his ability to be committed to a goal and put in a lot of effort to achieve it, will be a big plus for him in how he is viewed by potential employers etc., or by universities if he wants to go back to school.
That’s very interesting.
I don’t have any personal experience like you, but was under the impression it’s how high you were drafted. If you were drafted in the top ten rounds, you can make a good living even if you never make the Show. If you were drafted after that and don’t have as much “upside” you could struggle financially by a lot of years in the minors.
I mean, obviously higher draft picks are going to get paid more, but I always thought there was a big discrepancy.