Average salary of MLB players up 11% to $4.9 million in biggest spike in 22 years. The average annual salary of the Major League Baseball (MLB) players for 2023 is $4.9 million, up 11 percent from 2022, the biggest spike since 2001, according to The Associated Press. The team owners and the players reached a new five-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in March. Shortstop Marcus Semien of the Texas Rangers was on the Major League Baseball Players Association’s eight-member executive subcommittee that participated in the CBA negotiation. “It’s a step in the right direction,” Semien was quoted as saying by AP. The reaching of the new deal motivated teams to spend more during the offseason. Seven of them surpassed $200 million with their payrolls, led by the New York Mets which saw their total salaries grow by $70 to $355 million. By the 2023 major league regular season opening day on March 30, 546 of the 943 players make $1 million or more, 32 more than 514 of these categories in 2022
