ctions AnalysisGame RecapsGamethreadsMinorsOffbeatFull ArchiveExclusives South Side Sox Hall of FameCard of the MonthDeep DiveDigitsFlashbackFranchise FactsKnow Your EnemyMost Essential White SoxRace to the BottomSix Pack of StatsSouth Side SnapSouth Side StumperSSS Literary SupplementSuper Stats PackThe Game I’ll Never ForgetTwitterpatingUnder the RadarView From the Other SideWhite Sox on SB Nation HomeStoriesScheduleRosterStatsWhite Sox on Yahoo! HomeDepth ChartTransactionsMasthead MastheadMeet the Players!Links White Sox Web LinksSouth Side Sox standardsCommunity GuidelinesOdds Shop StubHub 鉁昗hy I wouldn’t play professional baseball again Travis Shaw Jersey , even if I had the chanceNew,34comments(Hint: I don’t want to be broke)CDTShareTweetShareShareWhy I wouldn’t play professional baseball again, even if I had the chanceDone deal: In 2011, when Sim hit .350 with six homers in rookie ball, he was paid $2,800.It’s true. I wouldn’t play professional baseball again, even if I had the chance.It’s a simple sentence, but it’s real. While it is more relatable to the current/former minor league baseball players who have been through it, it’s just as important for any baseball fans or kids to know about some of what you go through as a professional baseball player.It’s been a while, South Side Sox I haven’t wrote here lately (three months, but who’s counting) and the only excuse I could come up with is that I’ve been lazy as fuck. Not like in a I’m laying on the couch with a bag of Lays Classic for an entire day kind of lazy, more like I’ve been so busy with work that I wasn’t able to spend the time I wanted to write kind of lazy. However, I started training for baseball just for leisure purposes, which I am having a lot of fun with. Now, I have no desire to resume playing baseball (not even beer league baseball) — I just enjoy the training part of it. You can follow my shitty journey on Instagram or Twitter @esim3400. Oh, and if you’ve forgotten who I am, there is a reason why, because all I am is a broke minor league nobody who played professionally for six years — which I consider too long.Now, if you ask most, if not all, of the kids who are playing baseball right now if they would like to be a professional baseball player one day, the answer is going to be a “Hell yes!” And that’s great because, well, the more the younger generations love and play the game, the better it is for the future of baseball. However: Do they know how the MLB draft works? Or what the pay is like in the minor leagues? Or what the daily routine is like for a minor leaguer in-season and offseason? Or what kind of financial problems minor leaguers face on a daily basis? Or what it’s like playing a 7 p.m. game that finishes at 10 p.m. to get you out of the stadium by 11 p.m. to start a shitty 12-hour bus ride with 30-plus people and check-in to the hotel for a few hours before getting back on the field by 4 p.m. for another day of baseball?Of course not.I could probably come up with at least 69 reasons on why I would not play professional baseball again, even if I was given a pro contract right in front of me, but for this article’s sake I’m going to keep it to just three.SalaryThe salary is terrible. The worst year of pay I’ve received was in 2011, which was actually my best year of playing http://www.brewersfanproshop.com/authentic-orlando-arcia-jersey , stat-wise (.350, with six bombs, in rookie ball). Here is a quick breakdown:Spring Training (one month) = $0 salaryExtended Camp (two-and-a-half months) = $0 salaryRookie Ball AZL (two-and-a-half months) = $1,100/month from middle of June until end of August, about $2,800 total.Instructional Camp (one month) = $0 salarySo while getting paid as a professional baseball player in 2011, I received about $2,800, That’s for the year, people. Now I haven’t included meal money, which we receive around $20 per day from the team during spring training, extended camp, only road games in-season, and instructional camp. What I also haven’t included was the fact that from the $1,100/month, after taxes, fees, clubhouse dues (money we pay for the clubbie to do our laundry and other stuff), I was bringing home about $800 a month.You could get a job at McDonald’s as a 16-year-old high-school kid with no skills other than a little bit of will to make some money, and make $2,800 in less than two months.(And my highest-salaried year as a professional wasn’t much better than this, by the way.)Job SecurityJob security is close to nonexistent. There are many, many ways for you to lose your job as a professional baseball player, such as injuries, age (if you are 25 as a professional baseball player, you are considered old), available roster spots, competition within the organization Robin Yount Jersey , what kind of numbers you put up, potential level, and more. In contrast, the only way for you to keep your job is to dominate every single year and even in doing so, you may not move up. I’ve witnessed, with my own eyes, lower-round picks repeating a level that they dominated in just because of politics within the organization. Unless you are a first round pick, or at most a pick in the top five rounds, you need to put up some serious numbers within two or three years, or you might be the one getting released in the offseason or the following year.Now, I get that this is the highest level of competition there is for baseball, and I welcome the fact that the competition level is so high. But once again, what I have a problem with is the fact that they have to go through all of this shit while getting paid well below minimum wage.LifestyleThe 12-hour bus rides, being away from home for six or seven months of the year, living suitcase-to-suitcase where in most cases minor leaguers don’t even unpack because they can get called up or down in a matter of seconds, constant checking the bank account to see if you have enough money to eat and drink for the week, trying not to kill yourself in Low-A in Kannapolis where a baseball team shouldn’t even exist at all are disincentives to playing the game professionally.I’m 30 years old.Fuck that noise.You may be thinking, c’mon, Sim just said 25 is old for a minor leaguer. He’s 30? Of course he wouldn’t sign a contract — no one would ever offer one. Dude probably can’t even get up off the couch any longer.Well, that’s not exactly right. You know that baseball training I’ve started back up? As fat and out of shape I am currently in, I can still put on some serious numbers. This latest round of baseball training has been a blast, and I’ll tell you about it some time.You may or may not have to wait another three months. Only time will tell. Detroit’s streak of avoiding arbitration hearings could be in jeopardy."Friday, January 11 is the official deadline for Major League Baseball teams and arbitration-eligible players to exchange salary figures for the 2019 season. The Detroit Tigers have six players eligible for arbitration this winter. Nicholas Castellanos is the big one, being eligible for the third and final time. Shane Greene is eligible for the second time, and Blaine Hardy will be eligible for the second of at least four times. Pitchers Matthew Boyd, Daniel Norris, and Michael Fulmer are eligible for the first time in their careers.The Tigers avoided arbitration with catcher James McCann and relief pitcher Alex Wilson by declining to tender them a contract offer earlier in the offseason. If no agreement is reached between the remaining eligible players and the team, a hearing will be scheduled in early February. Hearings take place before a panel of three arbitrators who award either the player’s proposal or the team’s salary figure for a one-year contract. The salary given is always for one season.Matt Swartz provides an annual arbitration forecast http://www.brewersfanproshop.com/authentic-orlando-arcia-jersey , which is published every year by MLB Trade Rumors. His projections have been very accurate, and are the ones most often cited when making payroll estimates. Here are his arbitration projections for the Tigers.2019 Detroit Tigers arbitration-eligible playersPlayerService time2018 Salary2019 ProjectedPlayerService time2018 Salary2019 ProjectedThe six arbitration eligible players, including Hardy, stand to net a combined $24.7 million in estimated salary, or increases totaling $12 million. With the additions of Tyson Ross, Matt Moore, and Jody Mercer, and the departures of Jose Iglesias, Victor Martinez, Mike Fiers, and Leonys Martin, the Tigers’ payroll will not be substantially changed in 2019. Opening Day payroll is on target for about $125 million, according to Cot’s Contracts.Players are eligible for arbitration based on major league service time. A player with at least three but fewer than six years of service time is eligible for arbitration unless he has a previously signed contract. A player with two years and 126 days on the major league roster (including time on the disabled list) is also eligible as a “Super Two” player.Boyd qualified as a Super Two eligible player this year while Drew VerHagen just missed out. Hardy was the Tigers’ only Super Two player last year. For the first two seasons in the major leagues, most players earn near the minimum salary of $555,000 per season.The vast majority of players who are eligible for arbitration reach a settlement with their clubs prior to the case going for a hearing. Recently, more clubs have been taking an “offer and fight” approach, not bothering to negotiate after submitting their offers. The Tigers managed to avoid any arbitration hearings every season under former president and general manager Dave Dombrowski, and Al Avila managed to keep that streak intact since taking over the job. There has been speculation that, with counsel John Westhoff moving into a new position, the Tigers might take a leaner, cheaper approach and start trying to keep costs down by contesting some arbitration cases.The primary factors considered by an arbitration panel are the player’s salary history, the amount of service time, the number of games or innings that the player has played and comparable salaries for players at the same position with similar criteria. An award such as an All-Star selection, a Gold Glove, or Silver Slugger is also considered.A club can still release a player if they settle on a non-guaranteed (arbitration) contract prior to the season. If a player is released at least 16 days prior to Opening Day, the club will owe the player one-sixth of his salary for the season. If released prior to Opening Day but within 15 days of Opening Day, he must be paid one-quarter of his annual salary.