Minor League Pay / MLB Draft / How Much Money I Made In 6 Years Of Professional Baseball

what's up Yugi bronies welcome to my youtube channel today we're gonna go over how much I made in pro ball before we start beer time okay that let's go also shout-out to roto air for sending me the pitching ninja shirt a little bit about my background I was born in South Korea I moved to Canada when I was 13 I grew up playing highschool ball in Canada and I got recruited to play JUCO ball down in Kansas and after that I went to Universal Florida for a year and I got drafted by the San Francisco Giants I got drafted in 2010 and I was released in 2015 and I played it a little bit of indie ball in 2016 and just the bed and yeah that's basically my career anyways when you first got drafted you get something like this like a nice little package deal or the they got going on here the first thing you get is something like this this is basically saying that you got drafted so I got this on June 8 2010 and this basically says congratulations on your 27th round 828 pick overall and it says at the bottom we wish you the best of luck in your future and trust you will have an outstanding career and the San Francisco Giants organization yeah so next paper that you get is obviously the contract here has my player information execution date of the contract which was June 22nd of 2010 so the first thing it covers is the signing bonus you can tell my how much I signed for there I don't give a I'll share everything 15,000 total 7,500 each so as you can tell you get your first half when you sign and you get your second half mid-april little past spring training because I was drafted as a junior in college I was on a college scholarship playing as well which was 7,500 per semester but I mean I didn't end up using it because as soon as you got done playing balls broke as and I need to make money I got a job right away and just so you guys know the college scholarship plan you to use it within two years of getting released or it goes away another thing that you guys got to know about the college scholarship plan as well is they don't pay you the money so it's basically you have to cover everything and they will reimburse you so you gotta have some money to start and here is our monthly salary for all the levels of mana leaks which you can tell so all lower levels including rookie ball short season low way and high you get eleven hundred a month pre-tax pre clubhouse dues which I'll go over in a little bit and fifteen hundred for double-a and 2150 for a triple-a basically your season goals beginning of April to end of August so it's good five months so you will get fifty five hundred for you are in basically a ball below and the rest of it it basically covers just about everything any word from termination to agreements to go the other eyewash then you sign at the bottom of them the the main copy and you get your copy and that's basically it so I'm gonna go over how much money I made so my first year I signed I was 21 and I was in rookie ball in Arizona so I was there over two months I made about twenty five hundred bucks my first season again when you get drafted because you get drafted in June you just play the short season and that's it and after that I was invited back for an instructional camp which is like a month-long camp and that they do I don't know why they do it so you do that for a month and you don't get paid during that you just get paid meal money which is twenty bucks a day for six days a week when you survive off for that and I went home and I realized well I'm money to make some money so I got a job right away I started giving lessons and in my hometown and I wall trading so my second year my first full season show up your spring training didn't know where I'm getting paid so spring training is about a month long and you don't get paid during that and same thing with instructs you know you only get paid mil money about again 20 bucks a day for six days a week after that and I got stuck and extended which extended camp is basically everyone that didn't make the full season roster and you basically just do enough spring training until until draft starts and after that short season begins so you basically just do whatever you've been doing for another two and a half months until mid-june which is a draft and during extended you don't get paid either so 20 bucks a day and that's it and extend it to me is it's just miserable because it's hot people want to get out well we're just busting our asses just for a shot for someone to get hurt or or whatever he moved up basically just just hell after the extended short season started I was stuck in rookie ball again in azl and I did that for again another two and a half months while getting paid about 2500 bucks for the full year so entire year of 2011 I got paid 2,500 bucks plus obviously live it up meal money about at the same time meal money I'm obviously we're spending on food because we wanna get fed twice a day and plus you got to pay the clubhouse - so I'm thinking about Clubhouse - I don't know if you guys are familiar with it every team has a clubby that takes care of your laundry and whatever you have to pay them just how it works so each player will pay when extended and they see all I think it was like two bucks a day plus you got a tip on a little bit so 25 bucks a week we're paying to the club ego that gets done right after we get the meal money for the week which is like again like I said 120 a week and then you - 25 off of that so you get about a 95 for a week for food before a full year I lost money I came home after the season did the instructs again my second instructs I did that without getting paid obviously my office started later because I was an instruct and I got a job right away again giving lessons and that's basically all I can do because I mean no one's gonna hire somebody for four months plus you gotta train so I was ideal for me so that I can still train there and make a little extra cash right so so 2012 started which was my first year making full season team went through a month of spring training again without getting paid just meal money and after that I finally broke camp with our low way team which is called us at green jackets but yeah so I've made full season for the first time so I'm pretty stoked I'm like you know I'm fine I make some money cuz when you make the full season teams you get paid right away and wasn't the case because we had to pay rent in low way every organization is a little bit but with the Giants in lo way and double-a you had to pay your own rent and hi you get stuck in the host families and triple-a you got to pay rent to some no way I was like okay finally I'm making my money and then the first day we show up we're trying to find our apartment who realized we're gonna sign the lease we're on our own so team's not helping us find a place or the 3-bedroom 2bath apartment of the rent was like 1,500 for a month you can't just do one per room because that's 500 plus utilities and all that each and that was way too much for all of us so we stuck seven dudes in a 3-bedroom 2bath so we had two per room and one thing in the living room now each of us are paying about 260 270 each plus utilities so we're spending about 300 each almost a paycheck went on to paying rent the other half obviously groceries and when you first move in obviously you gotta buy the mattress you gotta buy you gotta buy pillows you gotta buy blankets heads up I thought I finally broke extended I was so happy and then realize and lo way you get you get shafted even more one throw about like a month and a half or two months in law way I got sent down because I was hitting like while I was getting sent down they sent me to triple-a just to learn from the older guys or whatever I'm in triple-a would they just stuck me in a hotel because I was there before me for like a week we got sent back down and the original plan was for me to go to short season which was in Salem Keizer but I didn't happen because I got hurt in triple-a catching bullpens and I got thumbed and ended up getting a surgery which is I don't if you can tell but yeah my thumb got a Deb rehab for that year so yeah basically I was my 2012 season and because I was hurt I had to do instructs again because I need to get some more innings in and after that I went home to the same thing working giving baseball lessons and and do my own training 2013 again same thing spring training didn't get paid for at this point I'm broke like 115k after taxes I got about 11 or 12 K I'm through a problem like three or four grand every year so by this point I'm like I'm depleted Mike whatever it is what it is I mean basically everyone is going through it if you think about it was a 27th round back then it was 50 rounds a lot of them didn't even get paid as much as I did so broke again to low way and those my second year in low way had another shitty season halfway through the season they sent me too high a which was in San Jose California Ohio was nice because we don't have to pay rent I don't give a if I gotta live in a prison you know if I don't have to pay him I'm happy after the season he instructs again another month of not getting paid went home did the exact same thing just worked and worked out but if you think about it like I make it sound easy but I mean I get up at 5:30 usually in the morning eat my breakfast and then go to the gym at about 7 o clock from 7:00 till 9:00 9:30 I'm lifting and then after that I come back and I give blessings we have this like high school Academy thing going on so I'll give lessons from 10:00 to 12:00 my own training usually from like 12 to like 2 or 3 like hitting and catching all that and then after that we had look at another Academy thing for younger kids so I was giving lessons from 3 to 7 and then after that I'll do my own cardio from like 7:30 to like I don't know eight and I came home and get ready for tomorrow basically preparing all the food and everything and go to bed by 10:00 and then get up at 5:30 and do it all over so I make it sound easy but I mean it wasn't 2014 again spring training same and I broke with low way again this is my third year in low way I'm hating life so 2014 the season started after the first date management calls me over I'm like like what's going on and he's like whoa you're gonna double a tomorrow I'm like what like this is when I got everything set up I got all my bed and everything like all those things set up I signed a lease so I paid already the first month of rent like everything is done it's like you're going to double-a because our catcher got hurry I had to go to ee which was in Richmond Virginia this is after our season opener so it was like this is like 11 p.m. so you got to get everything packed up and so I go to double-a the next day and then I find out I have to move in and I need to pay rent again I was like you know that was pretty pissed and I thought the team was gonna do something about it but they didn't but in double-a the RAM was more expensive because in double-a guys are you know or higher-end I guess so they only went one per room so I was like rather than like seven guy then I had to pay about 550 rich moans a little more expensive than Augusta - which was a lot for me but I mean I had to do it I mean what I was gonna do so I spent everything that I saved up basically giving lessons and stuff and and I was only there for like a month and a half and after that I got sent back down to Augusta is what it is how a minor leagues work right so and by this point I was backing up I was 25 and low away that's when my pitching coach was like hey like you want to try pitching I was a catcher and then he's like I'm like dude like I don't want to do that and one day I just showed up hungover as and I'm just like dude just give me the ball I'll throw so I throw a bullpen for him and then he's like well you're gonna pitch in a couple days like what what do you what no buts I've never pitched in my life so I pitched against Charleston at the end of the year I got in one inning I got up to like 92 or whatever and then they're like well you're gonna come back as a pitcher I'm like dude whatever at this point I don't care so I came back to another instruct as a pitcher as my fourth instructor again instruct didn't get paid for and then came home and you know now I'm training as a pitcher of something I've never done before again same thing giving lessons this offseason was a little bit different because I was bartending as well just wasn't enough I was bartending on weekends and then I was giving baseball lesson during the week while I was training 2014 offseason was probably one of the hardest I've ever worked at two full-time jobs basically plus training so now that was rough but I went through it I mean it is what it is and 2015 started which is my sixth year and it's my final year playing affiliated baseball I'm pitching with spring training same thing didn't get papers and out of spring training I didn't make any full season teams it's my first year pitching so they're like hey I need to develop more so they stuck me to extended extended you don't get paid so I was miserable twenty bucks a day for meal money and that was basically it for two and a half months after that I broke the short season with CLM Kaiser luckily that was host families so I didn't have to spend a whole lot of money but at the same time he had always been making a whole lot money either way the season ended but that was my last year um I got a call in November I I still remember this day you know I got a call like 9:00 9:30 I was like dude what the just like weird number I was like dude I'm not gonna answer that and calls again I was like I had a bad a bad feeling right so so I answer it and it's of course it's our coordinator he's like hey you know they all say the same when you get released it was good having you but we just have any roster spots for you whatever they see the same to everybody so basically I got released over a ten-minute one call and that was basically yet of my my tenure as a professional baseball player after that I was like well I didn't know what to do right so it was like well so training everything basically just trying to get ready for the next year as a pitcher but I mean whatever so I kept on training I got signed in the ball contract and I pitched for them like for like a month and a half or whatever and and then I got released just pitching for a semi-pro League just to get my shot or whatever nothing happened till the end of the year came home hung them up but I mean I'm lucky to play until I was 27 and I have no regrets really and I just want to show you guys like what I went through school II like how much money I made how much money I'd I lost when I got done playing with indie ball when I was driving home I had 500 bucks I remember this vividly so i 5m bucks me on my checking account so I was like dude like I can't stay at a hotel or whatever so so my indie ball team is about thirty two hours away from from where I live and I drove 32 hours straight and I didn't stay in a hotel or nothing I slept in the car just got to do what you got to do man you don't side for during the draft I mean it's gonna be pretty tough you know unless you have some help from you know your family if you don't have any kind of support it is gonna be tough and it's really tough to have your own families and stuff like that which a lot of my friends had to go through I'd let for them to retire earlier than they should have been stuff like that so so yeah when you get drafted try to get as much money as possible from the team because when you sign that contract man I mean you're gonna get paid as you make it right so you're gonna have to have something to support your career I mean hopefully you guys all get drafted first rounds but I mean work like that race so again do or the you want when you get drafted if you want a sign sign do it you know you're chasing your dream no one's gonna say and I'm pulling for you but I'm just letting you know real side of our minor league works so so yeah that's all I got Cheers [Laughter]

Channel: Eric Sim

Views: 355,429

Rating: 4.9447002 out of 5

Keywords: minor league baseball, pay, broke

Id: y2Itmf_I8-w

Length: 15min 47sec (947 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 26 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/black-dude-on-reddit]

Former free agent sign here:

My first paycheck after taxes, rent and clubhouse dues was 275 and this was in Florida which has lower taxes to begin with

My roommate got called up to AA and started making 400. Before he left we had 7 dudes to a 2 bedroom apt for the season Air mattresses and all. We were kinda fucked because without him we didn’t have enough for rent but thankfully one of our guys was drafted in the 3rd round and he was cool enough to pick up the difference.

Meanwhile another buddy of mine just made it to the show after 5 years in the minors and he madeout with 22 G’s on his first check. That was more than he had made in his 5 years combined with plenty extra to spare.

Oh and you only get paid in season so you’re on you’re own till spring training where they at least give you a hotel room and per deim but it’s still not much unless you’re on the 40-man

[u/jakerepp15]

I was also a 27th round pick of the Phillies in 2015.

My signing bonus was $1000.

Monthly pay was $1100 before taxes and deductions. We lost $12 a day for lodging and $5 a day for food. My take home pay would've been around $500 a month.

I left after a month cause I quickly realized I would need a real job. Also, I was 22 and sucked compared to the the 18 year olds, so I saw the writing on the wall very quickly.

[u/Russian_Rocket23]

In 8th grade, we did this 2 month long life simulation project (you had a job, built/bought a house, had a budget, etc). I thought I'd be clever and pick baseball player so I'd be rich and able to design this awesome mansion. On the day we got our salaries from the teacher, it revealed that I made like $400 a month (this was about 30 years ago) and was the lowest paid kid in the class. "But I'm a professional baseball player", I whined to the teacher. "Indeed you are......do you think you would make the majors right out of school?"

[u/[deleted]]

Giants legend Eric Sim.

For real though, that’s brutal. Honestly, you would think it would be in the organizations best interest to take care of these guys a little bit more since they might be the future of the team. Never know what you can squeeze out of someone that you invest in. After all that though, imagine how good it would feel to make a 40 man roster and get that league min ($575k?) pay bump. I’d be bathing in champagne that night.

[u/4litersofbaggedmilk]

Every year a team gets praised for signing over the slot who fell in the draft. It’s players like him we never hear about who signed for $15000 or less to purse their dream.

Even though, I am happy my team reaches for player who have fallen in the draft (pay over slot for higher talent), its tough to see players who get paid next to nothing for a change for their dream even though most will fail.

Sports is a cut throat business

[u/Dirty_Virmling]

It would cost each team less than $10 million per year to pay every minor league player something like $50k per year. Even the poorest teams in the league can afford that.

[u/rhaa2869]

Its something I never thought about much when I was younger. When I would go to watch my local minor league team I always used to think about how awesome it must be to get to play pro ball and how lucky those guys were. I never realized how little they were paid or how the majority of them would never come close to making it to the bigs. My local team would have host families for the players but like Eric said in the video, if your team didn't do that you were forced to get a place with a bunch of other teammates and spend what little you had on rent when you were already living on about $100/week for meals. Unless you are some hyped prospect with a nice signing bonus, the life of a minor leaguer is far from glamorous. I have a lot of respect for guys like Eric who are willing to go through that to try and achieve their dream, as far out of reach as it may appear.

[u/reiks12]

What doesnt make sense to me is how any team doesnt realize that giving these guys 2-3k a month would do wonders for their development. You pour a ton of money into development already, 3k a month per player would do shit to the bottom line. What is that, an extra 300k a year? Then they can focus on DEVELOPING instead of having to work at Chucky Cheese to make due.

[u/Peechez]

Boy it sure would be nice if the rich fucks that own these teams cut down on their weekly fart huffer appointments a bit and paid their employees above poverty wages