Minimum salary gets 'cost-of-living' increase to $316K

NEW YORK -- The minimum salary for major-league baseball players will rise to $316,000 from $300,000 next year.

The amount of the increase was based on the Consumer Price Index and was agreed to Wednesday by the commissioner's office and the players association. The minimum minor-league salary for players on 40-man rosters for at least the second year or with at least one day of major-league service will increase from $50,000 to $52,600.

Baseball's labor contract called for the minimum to rise at the same rate as the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index-Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers from November 2002 through November 2004. The deal calls for another cost-of-living adjustment in 2006.