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What Money Means To Minor Leaguers

The other day, I was negotiating with a General Manager of a Winter Ball team that is interested in signing one of my clients to play for him.  He originally offered my client $1,000 less than I was hoping for, but included a shared apartment.  The stated offer is not a figure to complain about, but is less than what I would expect the client to be paid based on what the team paid its players last year.  My goal is to get him some extra cash, even if it is $1,000 more per month.  While it may not seem like a large increase, to a minor league player, an extra $1,000 a month quite a jump.

As we were talking on the phone, I remembered an article that I recently read titled, Minor League Baseball: Investing In The Future, which is a fantastic piece that should be read in its entirety by all baseball players and people who wish to represent them.

Minor League players are lucky to earn not much more than $10,000 per season; Winter Ball can be a nice bonus for strong in-season performance.  More importantly, it helps players fine-tune their skills in the off-season.  But back to the money, Winter Ball cash is likely even more important to a player drafted in a later round who did not have great leverage when negotiating his first contract.  That player might not have much of a signing bonus to rely on as he makes his way through his organization’s farm system.  The bonus babies do not have the same concern over a thousand dollars in a Winter Ball contract.

It is something that is not highly documented, but players within each team’s farm system come from different socioeconomic backgrounds and receive different signing bonuses after being drafted.  The latter part of that statement affects not only what kind of economic situation a player might be dealing with, but it also changes the type of attention and number of chaces that the player will have to perform, even though he might be going through a slump or two in his career.  It is the politics of baseball, and it is the reason why I spend my time seeking even the slightest increase in salary for a later-round client, just so that he might be able to live just a little bit more comfortably throughout the year.

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.

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