# Opinion - There's NOT ENOUGH teams in professional American sports **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 5, 2022, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-theres-not-enough-teams-in-professional-american-sports/960512 "2022-03-05T08:35:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 49
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-theres-not-enough-teams-in-professional-american-sports/960512/49 "2022-03-08T23:28:46Z")
I posted about Minor League baseball players and the pittance they get paid a few years ago. > [@Are players legally required to play for teams they're traded to? (U.S. leagues)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-players-legally-required-to-play-for-teams-theyre-traded-to-u-s-leagues/816195/22): > > > [@Are players legally required to play for teams they're traded to? (U.S. leagues)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-players-legally-required-to-play-for-teams-theyre-traded-to-u-s-leagues/816195/21): > > > > The MLBPA doesn’t represent minor league players. > > That’s correct, actually minor league players have no union at all, period. > > [https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2018/6/5/17251534/mlb-draft-minor-league-baseball-union-phpa](https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2018/6/5/17251534/mlb-draft-minor-league-baseball-union-phpa) > [@Are players legally required to play for teams they're traded to? (U.S. leagues)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-players-legally-required-to-play-for-teams-theyre-traded-to-u-s-leagues/816195/23): > > Just to add, so you know how little you make in the Minor Leagues… The highest-paid players in MiLB get about $2,150 a month. That’s at the top. They only get paid during the season which lasts 5 months. That means that the best-paid players make $10,750 a year. The poverty level in the United States in 2018 is $12,140 for a single person household. Again, the _best_ players are in poverty unless they have other income. The lowest-paid players are making about half as much. > > So you’re not playing MiLB unless you really love to play or are hoping to someday get into the MLB so you can live off of your salary. You can’t make a living playing Minor League baseball. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-theres-not-enough-teams-in-professional-american-sports/960512)._