The Astros' playoff share is so big it's almost doubling some salaries

Liz Roscher
·Staff writer
The Houston Astros won the 2017 World Series, and their playoff share bonus is record-breaking. (AP Photo)
The Houston Astros won the 2017 World Series, and their playoff share bonus is record-breaking. (AP Photo)

The World Series has been over for nearly a month now, but there’s still more playoff news to be had. In the last month, MLB has counted up all the money from every playoff game, which means it’s time to distribute the playoff shares.

The amount of those playoff shares were announced on Monday, and there are some big numbers. For the Astros, they’re the biggest ever for a World Series-winning team.

Until the Astros’ amount was announced, the 2014 San Francisco Giants held the record for highest playoff share at $392,006.36. For reference, the 2016 Chicago Cubs issued playoff shares worth $368,871.59 after winning the World Series.

For several Astros players, that money is significant because it nearly doubles their yearly salary. The MLB minimum salary is $535,000, and a number of big World Series players are making around that much. Carlos Correa made league minimum in 2017, and Alex Bregman made just a little bit more. Lance McCullers and Brad Peacock made just under $550,000. So these playoff shares are an enormous benefit.

Players aren’t the only team members who can get a playoff share. Each team votes before the postseason starts on how to distribute the money. It can go to players, coaches, training staff, pretty much anyone the team wants, with shares being distributed in whole or partial. And the money comes from a pool that’s built from the playoff games themselves. Here’s the breakdown from MLB:

The players’ pool is formed from 50 percent of the gate receipts from the Wild Card Games; 60 percent of the gate receipts from the first three games of the Division Series; 60 percent of the gate receipts from the first four games of the League Championship Series; and 60 percent of the gate receipts from the first four games of the World Series.

The haul from the 2017 playoffs was pretty substantial — it’s another record-breaking amount.

That pool of money is then divided among the ten playoff teams, and the teams issue shares according to how the players voted. So the value of each share depends on how many full shares a team votes to give. The Astros voted to give 60 full and 9.23 partial shares, and other teams made their own decisions. Here’s the full breakdown of the other nine playoff teams, via MLB’s press release:

  • Los Angeles Dodgers (Share of Players’ Pool: $20,280,103.72; value of each of full share: $259,722.14) – The Dodgers issued 65 full shares, a total of 12.768 partial shares and 14 cash awards.

  • Chicago Cubs (Share of Players’ Pool: $10,140,051.86; value of each of full share: $133,159.02) – The Cubs issued 68 full shares, a total of 7.5 partial shares and six cash awards.

  • New York Yankees (Share of Players’ Pool: $10,140,051.86; value of each of full share: $138,897.63) – The Yankees issued 57 full shares and a total of 15.01 partial shares.

  • Arizona Diamondbacks (Share of Players’ Pool: $2,746,264.04; value of each of full share: $40,976.78) – The D-backs issued 59 full shares, a total of 7.849 partial shares and four cash awards.

  • Boston Red Sox (Share of Players’ Pool: $2,746,264.04; value of each of full share: $36,438.21) – The Red Sox issued 65 full shares, a total of 10.01 partial shares and six cash awards.

  • Cleveland Indians (Share of Players’ Pool: $2,746,264.04; value of each of full share: $36,782.68) – The Indians issued 62 full shares, a total of 8.584 partial shares and nine cash awards.

  • Washington Nationals (Share of Players’ Pool: $2,746,264.04; value of each of full share: $36,868.74) – The Nationals issued 61 full shares, a total of 10.522 partial shares and 16 cash awards.

  • Colorado Rockies (Share of Players’ Pool: $1,267,506.48; value of each of full share: $18,878.74) – The Rockies issued 52 full shares and a total of 15.139 partial shares.

  • Minnesota Twins (Share of Players’ Pool: $1,267,506.48; value of each of full share: $18,990.36) – The Twins issued 62 full shares, a total of 2.5 partial shares and 35 cash awards.

The sub-$20K share for the Rockies and Twins seems small compared to the Astros’, but considering that they both lost the wild-card game and played just one postseason game, it’s a pretty sweet deal.

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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher

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