Houston Astros‘ catcher Martin Maldonado has secured an important part of his future: steady earnings, as part of MLB’s pension plan.
The backstop has reached 10 years of service time in the major leagues, which means he will have access to full pension benefits.
Congratulations to Martin Maldonado who is celebrating 10 years in the league today! pic.twitter.com/PiYuhFbiKy
— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) April 22, 2022
It doesn’t matter if the player earns $20 million per year or if he is a journeyman making near the minimum every season: reaching 10 years of MLB service time is a huge deal anyway.
“It’s a goal of everybody who comes into the game to get fully vested, get your 10 years in and ride off into your sunset,’’ pitcher Tommy Hunter told USA Today regarding the subject a couple of years ago.
A Juicy Pension
The same article details that “the plan pays fully vested members a minimum of nearly $68,000 a year for those who start drawing at 45, with a sliding scale that goes up to $220,000 for beneficiaries who wait until age 62. The payout is even more meaningful for coaches, managers and trainers, who are also eligible and have lower salaries.”
That’s the kind of benefit Maldonado will now enjoy.
The career of the average athlete is relatively short, or at least much shorter than, say, a lawyer, writer, or plumber, just to name a few examples.
In many cases, the money they make during their playing days is all they earn during their lives.
And not every baseball player makes $15 million per season, with Maldonado being the perfect example.
He has made a name for himself by being a great defensive catcher, and they don’t earn a whole lot of money.
But now, Maldonado will get a nice retirement pension plan, not to mention the right to tell his kids and grandkids that he spent 10 years in The Show.
