Being on the 40-man roster also means a higher salary. The major league minimum for 2026 is $780,000, which comes to roughly $4,193.55 for every day on the active roster. But Kopp and Ward will also get raises while in the minors.
Minor leaguers also signed their own collective bargaining agreement in 2023 which came with salary increases, but they still pale in comparison to those on 40-man rosters. In 2025, the weekly pay for players in Double-A was $1,020, while Triple-A players were paid $1,225 per week. Kopp last season spent 13 weeks with Tulsa before getting promoted in July to Oklahoma City, for whom he pitched the final 11 weeks of the season. That comes to $26,735 for the entire season. Ward was in Triple-A all season, making $29,400.
Players on their first major league contracts in 2026 earn a minimum salary of $63,600 for their time in the minors. For players on subsequent major league contracts, the minor league minimum salary goes up, including $127,100 in 2026. But with the current collective bargaining agreement expiring next December, any such amounts in 2027 and beyond will need to be negotiated.