Mike Trout had his contract renewed by the Angels for $510,000, apparently just $20k over the MLB minimum. Trout was the American League’s rookie of the year, and according to many, he should have also been its most valuable player, an award that went to Miguel Cabrera instead.
I was wondering what the highest contract for a second-year player was, but I didn’t find any list via a web search. So using data from Baseball Reference, I’ll create a list.
Here are the rookie and 2nd year salaries of the Rookie of the Year winners from 2000 forward:
| Year | League | Player | Rookie Salary | Next Year | Raise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | AL | Jeremy Hellickson | $418,400 | $489,500 | $71,100 |
| 2011 | NL | Craig Kimbrell | $419,000 | $590,000 | $171,000 |
| 2010 | AL | Neftali Feliz | $402,000 | $457,160 | $55,160 |
| 2010 | NL | Buster Posey | $400,000[ref]2010 MLB Minimum[/ref] | $575,000 | $175,000 |
| 2009 | AL | Andrew Bailey | $400,000 | $435,000 | $35,000 |
| 2009 | NL | Chris Coghlan | $400,000[ref]2009 MLB Minimum[/ref] | $475,000 | $75,000 |
| 2008 | AL | Evan Longoria | $500,000 | $550,000 | $50,000 |
| 2008 | NL | Geovany Soto | $401,000 | $575,000 | $174,000 |
| 2007 | AL | Dustin Pedroia | $380,000 | $457,000 | $77,000 |
| 2007 | NL | Ryan Braun | $380,000[ref]2007 MLB Minimum[/ref] | $455,000 | $75,000 |
| 2006 | AL | Justin Verlander[ref]Verlander was the #2 overall pick in the 2004 draft, and signed a multi-year deal then.[/ref] | $980,000 | $1,030,000 | $50,000 |
| 2006 | NL | Hanley Ramirez | $327,000 | $402,000 | $75,000 |
| 2005 | AL | Huston Street | $316,000 | $339,625 | $23,625 |
| 2005 | NL | Ryan Howard | $300,000[ref]2005 MLB Minimum[/ref] | $355,000 | $55,000 |
| 2004 | AL | Bobby Crosby | $300,500 | $350,000 | $49,500 |
| 2004 | NL | Jason Bay | $305,000 | $355,000 | $50,000 |
| 2003 | AL | Ángel Berroa | $302,000 | $372,500 | $70,500 |
| 2003 | NL | Dontrelle Willis | $234,426 | $353,500 | $119,074 |
| 2002 | AL | Eric Hinske | $200,000 | $600,000 | $400,000 |
| 2002 | NL | Jason Jennings | $206,000 | $325,000 | $119,000 |
| 2001 | AL | Ichiro Suzuki[ref]Suzuki signed a multi-year deal in 2000.[/ref] | $5,666,667 | $3,696,000 | ($1,970,667) |
| 2001 | NL | Albert Pujols | $200,000 | $600,000 | $400,000 |
| 2000 | AL | Kazuhiro Sasaki[ref]Sasaki was signed to a multi-year free agent deal in 1999.[/ref] | $4,000,000 | $4,666,667 | $666,667 |
| 2000 | NL | Rafael Furcal | $200,000 | $355,000 | $155,000 |
For some players Baseball Reference didn’t have rookie salary data. Trout’s $20,000 raise is smaller than any on this list, except the unusual case of Ichiro Suzuki’s second year salary, with just Huston Street’s $23,000 and Andrew Bailey’s $35,000 being close.
Of course, Trout wasn’t just a rookie of the year; he arguably had the best rookie season ever in MLB history. Ignoring Kazuhiro Sasaki, the biggest raise was indeed Pujols’s $400,000 (matched by Eric Hinske the following year). In general it seems bigger revenue teams give larger raises, as Oakland tended to be at the low end, and Atlanta and the Cubs nearer the high end of raises. Verlander’s raise presumably was locked in by a long-term contract.
Update: I’ve used the MLB minimum salary for years where Baseball Reference doesn’t have rookie year salary data. In each of these cases, the player was called up mid-season, and thus likely earned less than this (getting paid a minor league salary before call-up, and the prorated minimum after), but the MLB minimum is a reasonable baseline for computing their raise after winning the Rookie of the Year.