Cart (0)
business newsUnderpaid Athletes: Trent Kline
By
Scott Reeves Dec 01, 2009 8:25 am
This catcher lifts weights -- and UPS boxes -- to build strength and endurance.
PRINT
 |
|
That's what Kline did last year, during the off-season, to keep alive his dream of playing Major League ball.
“ I carried boxes in the off-season because I love baseball,” he says. “As a kid, I never wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer. Baseball is the only thing I ever wanted to do. Sure, there’s an opportunity to make big money, but you play to live the dream.”
Kline, 25, plays for the San Jose Giants, the Class A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. In 2008, he picked up a degree in business from the University of South Carolina, where he attended school on a baseball scholarship. This year, he says, the combined income from his off-season job and apprenticeship in the minor leagues has been just enough to keep him in the game. He earned $1,100 a month from the team and about $3,000 working for UPS, or about $10,700 for the year.
That’s little enough -- and next to nothing in Silicon Valley, home to some of the nation’s top companies, including Intel (INTC), Apple (AAPL), eBay (EBAY) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ). Even an average one-bedroom apartment in San Jose starts at about $1,200 -- more than Kline’s monthly pay with the team. It's about $1,500 and up for a nice apartment in a better part of town.
Break Kline's income down to an hourly wage and the economic picture gets ever darker. “Baseball requires more than 40 hours a week,” Kline explains. “We’re often at the park for 10 or more hours a day and sometimes we put in as much as 70 or 80 hours a week.” If he's earning $1,100 a month, or about $275 a week, that works out to $3.43 an hour for an 80-hour week. And that doesn’t include travel time.
Kline cuts his expenses by living with a host family in San Jose. He tries to stretch the $20 a day he receives for meals when on the road. But if he can make it to the big leagues, his income will skyrocket: The minimum salary for a MLB rookie player in 2009 was $400,000. The stars of baseball, of course, earn much more: Alex Rodriguez took home $32 million this year playing third base for the New York Yankees.
Kline knows that he’s got to put up some solid numbers or he’ll be out of baseball altogether. Last season he batted .200 with no home runs and 10 RBI in 38 games for the San Jose Giants. But he showed good defense, picking off and throwing out runners. His team won the California League championship after posting a 51-19 record during the
regular season.
“As long as you’re in uniform, you’ve got a chance,” says Andy Skeels, Kline's team manager. “Trent is a smart, tenacious young man. He’s playing behind top prospect Buster Posey, so he’s got his work cut out for him -- it’s going to require a lot of dedication.”
No positions in stocks mentioned.
The information on this website solely reflects the analysis of or opinion about the performance of securities and financial markets by the writers whose articles appear on the site. The views expressed by the writers are not necessarily the views of Minyanville Media, Inc. or members of its management. Nothing contained on the website is intended to constitute a recommendation or advice addressed to an individual investor or category of investors to purchase, sell or hold any security, or to take any action with respect to the prospective movement of the securities markets or to solicit the purchase or sale of any security. Any investment decisions must be made by the reader either individually or in consultation with his or her investment professional. Minyanville writers and staff may trade or hold positions in securities that are discussed in articles appearing on the website. Writers of articles are required to disclose whether they have a position in any stock or fund discussed in an article, but are not permitted to disclose the size or direction of the position. Nothing on this website is intended to solicit business of any kind for a writer's business or fund. Minyanville management and staff as well as contributing writers will not respond to emails or other communications requesting investment advice.
Copyright 2011 Minyanville Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2011 Minyanville Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
