Collin McHugh confronts a strange possibility for the 2020 season: Will he be paying the Red Sox while pitching for them?
McHugh has one of the few contracts in baseball that is subject to such a perverse hypothetical in the wake of Major League Baseball’s imposition of a 60-game schedule.
The righthander, coming off a right elbow injury, signed a one-year, $600,000 guaranteed deal with the Red Sox during spring training.
Such a guarantee was for relatively little more than the major league minimum of $563,500. But the fact that it was a guaranteed deal — with incentives based on health that could increase its value — positioned McHugh to receive a $286,500 advance on his salary under the terms of the March agreement between MLB and the Players Association, in which MLB owners advanced players $170 million.
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Players with guaranteed deals got a $286,500 advance; those with split contracts that would pay them at least $150,000 for their minor league service got a $60,000 advance; those with split contracts with a minor league salary between $91,801 and $149,999 received a $30,000 advance; and those 40-man-roster members in line to receive $91,800 or less received a $16,500 advance.
McHugh qualified for the largest advance. Yet with the season now reduced to 60 games, players will receive salaries of just 37 percent of what they would have gotten for a full schedule. For McHugh, that means a salary of $222,222 — or about $64,000 less than he already received from the advance.
So, in theory, while McHugh’s teammates could soon start collecting paychecks, he could get an invoice from the club.
That’s the sort of detail that can be addressed as MLB and the MLBPA finalize plans for a season.
Presumably, McHugh won’t be paying to pitch. Nonetheless, his situation highlights the fact that players do face a season of significantly reduced earnings in the wake of the curtailment forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, both because they’ll be earning a prorated portion of their salaries and because they’ll be paying off advances.
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Chris Sale, the highest-salaried Red Sox player this year with an anticipated income of $30 million, will make just over $11 million; with the removal of his $286,500 advance, that will drop to slightly less than $11 million. J.D. Martinez will be the highest-paid active Red Sox player (Sale won’t pitch after having arm surgery), but his salary will fall from $23.75 million to a bit under $9 million because of the shortened season — and roughly $8.5 million once the advance is subtracted.
On the other end of the spectrum, Red Sox players such as Rafael Devers, Alex Verdugo, and Michael Chavis who are not yet eligible for salary arbitration — and thus were in line for salaries near the big league minimum — will make between $150,000 and $200,000.
| Player | 162 games | 60 games prorated | (Advance) | Net 2020 Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Sale | $30,000,000 | $11,111,111 | $286,500 | $10,824,611 |
| J.D. Martinez | $23,750,000 | $8,796,296 | $286,500 | $8,509,796 |
| Xander Bogaerts | $20,000,000 | $7,407,407 | $286,500 | $7,120,907 |
| Nathan Eovaldi | $17,000,000 | $6,296,296 | $286,500 | $6,009,796 |
| Dustin Pedroia | $13,000,000 | $4,814,815 | $286,500 | $4,528,315 |
| Jackie Bradley Jr. | $11,000,000 | $4,074,074 | $286,500 | $3,787,574 |
| Eduardo Rodriguez | $8,300,000 | $3,074,074 | $286,500 | $2,787,574 |
| Martin Perez | $6,000,000 | $2,222,222 | $286,500 | $1,935,722 |
| Kevin Pillar | $4,250,000 | $1,574,074 | $286,500 | $1,287,574 |
| Christian Vazquez | $4,200,000 | $1,555,556 | $286,500 | $1,269,056 |
| Brandon Workman | $3,500,000 | $1,296,296 | $286,500 | $1,009,796 |
| Andrew Benintendi | $3,400,000 | $1,259,259 | $286,500 | $972,759 |
| Matt Barnes | $3,100,000 | $1,148,148 | $286,500 | $861,648 |
| Jose Peraza | $2,850,000 | $1,055,556 | $286,500 | $769,056 |
| Mitch Moreland | $2,500,000 | $925,926 | $286,500 | $639,426 |
| Jonathan Lucroy** | $1,500,000 | $555,556 | $- | $555,556 |
| Heath Hembree | $1,612,500 | $597,222 | $286,500 | $310,722 |
| Kevin Plawecki* | $900,000 | $333,333 | $60,000 | $273,333 |
| Rafael Devers* | $692,500 | $256,481 | $60,000 | $196,481 |
| Darwinzon Hernandez* | $566,000 | $209,630 | $30,000 | $179,630 |
| Alex Verdugo* | $601,500 | $222,778 | $60,000 | $162,778 |
| Ryan Weber* | $600,000 | $222,222 | $60,000 | $162,222 |
| Ryan Brasier* | $584,500 | $216,481 | $60,000 | $156,481 |
| Marcus Walden* | $579,500 | $214,630 | $60,000 | $154,630 |
| Josh Taylor* | $577,000 | $213,704 | $60,000 | $153,704 |
| Austin Brice* | $573,500 | $212,407 | $60,000 | $152,407 |
| Michael Chavis* | $571,000 | $211,481 | $60,000 | $151,481 |
| Colten Brewer* | $569,500 | $210,926 | $60,000 | $150,926 |
| Collin McHugh | $600,000 | $222,222 | $286,500 | $(64,278) |
Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com. Follow him on twitter at @alexspeier.