Swinging for Paychecks™ - The Case for Performance-Based Salaries in MLB: Every Swing Shouldn’t Come with a Bonus

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April 14, 2025

Written by Frank Glassner:
CEO Veritas Executive Compensation Consultants

As Major League Baseball’s latest season kicks off, the only thing soaring higher than Shohei Ohtani’s launch angle is the collective payroll. Every time a player swings a bat, a decimal weeps - and the team owner, along with most of the front office, blacks out.

Let’s peel back the pine tar and ask a provocative question: Do today’s stars genuinely merit their weight in gold—or are we just spectators in an elaborate financial farce?

And more importantly: Could the world of executive compensation actually teach baseball a thing or two about fairness, accountability – and yes, value?

Paying for Past Glory is a Losing Game - Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda

Unlike the NFL or NBA, which use salary caps and structured incentives to keep teams in balance, Major League Baseball (MLB) lets market forces swing freely. The result? Legacy-fueled contracts bankrolled by ghosts of former greatness, not current “Wins Above Replacement” (WAR) scores.

Take Aaron Judge: baseball’s $360 million “what could’ve been.” Since his record-shattering 2022, the Yankees’ captain has become more myth than menace - a walking highlight reel who’s spent more time in the trainer’s room than the batter’s box.

Once a symbol of towering dominance, he now feels like a luxury asset with a recurring glitch. ROI? Think blue-chip stock turned speculative investment, with fans watching the ticker like it’s weather radar: “Is today another rain delay?”

Meanwhile, Bobby Witt Jr.: MLB’s human highlight algorithm with a 6.0 WAR and a rocket arm that should be registered with NASA - is out here playing superhero ball for $752,000.

That’s less than the Yankees spent on sunflower seeds last season. The kid’s delivering Gold Glove plays, 30/30 stats, and sprint speed that leaves cheetahs embarrassed, all under a pre-arb deal that wouldn’t buy Aaron Boone a minibar martini and a guilt snack at the Ritz.

And again, here comes Aaron Judge - baseball’s $360 million screensaver. Since his 2022 home run binge, he's become the crown jewel of the Injured List, moonlighting as a marketing hologram and part-time BP participant. The Yankees are paying him $40 million a year to play 100 games and rehab like it's an Olympic sport. That’s $246,913 per game - when he plays - while Witt is grinding out every inning like the rent’s due on Monday.

Judge’s post-MVP output feels like a cautionary tale wrapped in pinstripes: a ticker-tape contract for a ticker-taped hamstring. He’s not just resting on his laurels - he’s taken out a 30-year mortgage on them.

Meanwhile, Witt is redefining the definition of shortstop while living off the MLB version of college meal swipes—and he’s not complaining. He just keeps hitting doubles, robbing hits, and casually embarrassing Judge’s ROI like it’s part of his morning routine.

One’s the future of baseball. The other’s an extremely expensive memory.

It’s a microcosm of everything broken in MLB’s payroll matrix - where MVP production gets you couch-cushion change, and past glory gets you a golden throne in the rehab room.

This yawning chasm between pay and performance? It’s not just inefficient - it’s a deranged financial art project. A sport that worships WAR, xwOBA, and launch angle like gospel is somehow cool with paying by scrapbook value.

Metrics rule the field, but when it comes to salaries? It’s like someone spilled a pitcher of Gatorade on the spreadsheet and said, “Eh, let’s give him $40 million anyway.”

It’s not a market - it’s a museum. And Aaron Judge? He’s the Monet.

But wait, my dear and disillusioned diamond-watchers… could there actually be a solution streaking across the sky? - Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

No - it’s the Veritas WAR Incentive Grid™ (WIG™)!

Yes, WIG™ - because nothing says modern accountability like tying your paycheck to a sabermetric stat with a name that sounds like a late-night infomercial product.

Imagine a world where ballplayers don’t just get paid for what they did three seasons ago, but for what they’re actually doing right now - on actual dirt, with actual bats, and against pitchers not named “Inflated Legacy.”

WAR (Wins Above Replacement) is the Swiss Army knife of baseball stats. It measures hitting, fielding, base running, and your ability to not be the guy fans boo in the 7th inning. It's not just a number - it’s math with a cape.

And the Veritas WIG™? - WIG™ is the cape’s tailor.

Under the Veritas system, a player’s compensation scales with WAR like it’s a Silicon Valley performance-based stock option plan. Put up a 7.2 WAR season? You eat like a king. Deliver a -0.5 and spend half the season icing your hamstring while selling nostalgia on Instagram? Enjoy your prorated peanuts and a motivational podcast.

It’s normal. It’s brilliant - It’s beautifully insane.

Because in a world where executives don’t get paid until they perform, why are we still handing out $300 million for yesterday’s montage?

With the WIG™, baseball finally gets its meritocracy.

And maybe, just maybe, the fans get their money’s worth.

The WIG™ Formula: Where Math Meets Mayhem – Or, how to stop paying $38.5 million for warm-up jogs and vibes.

Let’s break it down like we would an executive compensation plan - with ice cold logic, dry wit, and just enough sarcasm to offend at least three agents (or board members):

• Base Pay
• = 3-Year Rolling WAR × Market WAR Multiplier ($2.5M per WAR, indexed annually)
• Think of it as the antidote to “legacy contracts” and “good in the clubhouse” handshakes. You produce; you get paid. You disappear into the trainer’s room? Not so much.
• Short-Term Incentives (STIs)
• Triggered by clutch stats, October baseball, and yes - fan engagement metrics.
• That includes your X (Twitter) game, walk-off GIF traction, and whether your postgame quotes go viral or just sound like a broken Roomba.
• Long-Term Incentives (LTIs)
• Think of this as equity-style vesting tied to cumulative WAR, team wins, and successfully avoiding the Disabled List for longer than a Netflix series.

Now, let’s put WIG™ through the wringer:

Shohei Ohtani (2023 WAR: 9.0)

• WIG™ Base: ~$22.5M
• Add elite dual-role bonus and cultural GDP bump
  → Total Pay: ~$45M
  Verdict: Deserves more - Possibly ownership rights to the stadium.

Juan Soto (2023 WAR: 5.5)

• WIG™ Base: ~$13.75M
• Plate discipline bonus + "Smirk Factor" premium
  → Total Pay: ~$20M
  Verdict: Paid to win games, not win over nostalgia investors - It works.

Anthony Rendon (2023 WAR: 0.0)

• WIG™ Base: $0
• Reality: $38.5M
  Verdict: The most expensive disappearing act since Houdini (and Houdini worked more dates).

Javier Báez (2023 WAR: -0.5)

• WIG™ Base: a framed apology letter
• Reality: $25M
  Verdict: The Tigers paid for gold, got slapstick defense and “hey batta-batta” swing-and-miss.

Spencer Strider (2023 WAR: 6.2)

• WIG™ Base: ~$15.5M
• Reality:$1M
  Verdict: This man’s arm should sue for wage theft.

Hall of Fame Value vs. Hall of Fame Contracts – Or, how Shohei earns his keep, and half the league earns witness protection.

Under the WIG™ system, Shohei Ohtani still gets paid like a unicorn dipped in 24-karat data, blessed by Babe Ruth’s ghost and maybe co-signed by Warren Buffett. He hits bombs, strikes out demigods, and signs autographs in two languages—all while keeping both elbows attached to his body.

But here’s where the satire meets the stat line:

For every Shohei, there are three guys cashing $28 million checks to hit .204, chase sliders like moths in a wind tunnel, and pull quads while jogging to first like they’re hauling antique furniture.

These are the Hall of Fame Contracts without the Hall of Fame anything.

Guys who haven’t sniffed a 2.0 WAR since the Obama administration—but still live in gated mansions built entirely out of rookie-year nostalgia.

They’re the MLB equivalent of corporate CEOs who tank the company, fire half the staff, and walk away with a $10 million bonus labeled “Strategic Resilience Under Challenging Macroeconomic Headwinds.”

Let’s call it what it is - It’s not compensation. It’s a hostage situation - with guaranteed money.

Meanwhile, Bobby Witt Jr.—a walking 6-WAR cheat code—is out here fielding like Ozzie Smith on a Red Bull bender and getting paid less than the Yankees spend on bubblegum, eucalyptus towels, and “leadership dinners.”

Under WIG™? It’s Simple:

• Produce like a star? Get paid like one.
• Do nothing? Collect nothing.
• Actively hurt your team’s win probability? Congrats - here’s your pink-slip and an Uber ride back to AAA.

Because in what other industry do you get more money the older and worse you get?

Even in the gilded zoo of executive pay (as much as you’d like to believe, this isn’t the Vatican), there are clawbacks, hurdles, and, at least once a year there’s a call where I have to explain to institutional investors, their advisors (e.g., ISS, Glass-Lewis, etc.) or activists why we paid the CEO while the stock chart looks like a ski slope.

But in MLB?

• Miss 70 games? Pay me $30 million.
• Bat .189? Still $30 million.
• Lead the league in double plays and double chins? Hand me my check and a Gatorade.

It’s less performance-based pay and more Goodfellas with cleats.

Pay me. Sick? Pay me. Slumping? Pay me. Ruined the season? Still pay me.

We've turned baseball into a luxury rehab center for the formerly relevant, where the only metric that matters is past marketing appeal. And no one has the guts to say, “Hey… WAR says you kinda suck now.”

Enter WIG™—the IRS for overpaid mediocrity.

It doesn’t just track performance. It hunts it down, interrogates it under a heat lamp, and adjusts your salary accordingly.

The CEO Parallel: Performance or Pink Slip

I’ve spent years untangling executive pay packages so convoluted they require a decoder ring and a priest. And even in that world, underperformance has consequences:

• Shareholder revolts.
• Activist investors with PowerPoint decks of doom.
• Sudden “career changes” announced at 5:15 PM on a Friday.

But in baseball?

A struggling closer gets lit up five nights in a row, and the response is a soft quote about “mental toughness” and three more years of guaranteed checks and hot tub time.

If CEOs can face clawbacks, why not relievers with 5.92 ERAs and a four-seam fastball that now tops out at “meh”?

The Veritas Bonus Matrix: Home Runs, Heat Maps, and Handshakes

Of course, WIG™ has perks. We’re not monsters – at Veritas we believe in incentives with style. So, here’s how a few “top hat” bonuses stack up:

For Hitters:

• 35+ HRs: +$1.5M
• 100+ RBIs: +$1M
• .900+ OPS: +$750K
• All-Star nod: +$500K
• Postseason heroics: +$1M per round
• Bonus TikTok dance after a bat flip: +$5 if it trends (we’re modern).

For Pitchers:

• 200+ Ks: +$1M
• Sub-3.00 ERA: +$1.25M
• 20+ wins: +$1.5M
• WHIP < 1.10: +$500K
• Cy Young Finalist: +$2M
• Avoid Tommy John for 3+ seasons: priceless (and extremely rare).

Retro Bonus:

• Sac bunts or hitting for the cycle: +$100K for nostalgia.

Team Bonuses: The Veritas Performance-Based Roster Pay™

C’mon - You didn’t think we’d stop at players, did you?

Example:

Atlanta Braves (2023 Team WAR: 54.9)

• Team WAR Budget: 54.9 × $2.5M = $137.25M
• Reality: $205M
• WIG™ Gap: -$67.75M → That’s a lot of soft grounders and stiff backs.

Detroit Tigers (2023 Team WAR: 13.8)

• Cap: $34.5M
• Reality: $118.5M
• Veritas Verdict: Call in the auditors (and the paramedics).

Imagine if every bloated contract triggered a performance audit and a phone call from the commissioner that starts with “Can you explain this…?”

The Veritas Touch: Metrics Meet Meaning

In the boardroom, we reward impact, not inertia.

So why should baseball be any different?

The Veritas WAR Incentive Grid™ is about aligning value with velocity, dollars with dominance, and contracts with common sense. It’s about:

• Paying for performance—not a curated YouTube montage from 2016.
• Turning lazy flyouts into red-ink liabilities.
• Compensation that finally – finally - makes fans say - “Hey… we got what we paid for.”

Because in baseball - just like in business - it’s not about what you were worth.

It’s about what you’re delivering right now.

And that, my friends, is a compensation game worth watching.

FBG

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Frank Glassner is the CEO of Veritas Executive Compensation Consultants and a widely respected authority on executive pay and strategic compensation design. Known for his discerning judgment, consummate diplomacy, incisive insights, and unwavering discretion, he is a trusted advisor and confidant to boards, CEOs, and institutional investors worldwide.