Mail Call

Dipping into the mailbag of the old parent club and the new parent club.

First, Jim Street takes a question about a Rattler from 2008:

What do you think the chances are of seeing Phillipe Aumont with the Mariners next season?
-- Miles S., Las Vegas, Nev.

The hard-throwing right-hander has a great future, and the organization has no intentions of rushing Aumont to the Major Leagues. So I doubt that he would pitch for the Mariners in 2009.

Aumont, who will be 20 years old on Jan. 7, still needs a lot of innings in the Minor Leagues to become big league ready. Though drafted in 2007, he did not pitch professionally that season and pitched just 55 2/3 innings this past season at Class A Wisconsin, where he posted a 4-4 record, with a 2.75 ERA and two saves.

The organization is being so careful with Aumont that he appeared in only three games after June 9, because of a strained right shoulder. My guess is that he would start the '09 season at either Clinton (the Mariners' new farm club in the Midwest League) or Class A High Desert in the California League.

Next, Adam McCalvy has an answer to a question that I get quite a bit.

What is the typical salary range at each Minor league level (Rookie, Class A, Double-A, Triple-A)? I know in the Majors it's $390,000 to whatever A-Rod's salary is.
-- Brad K., Milwaukee

The Major League minimum in 2008 was indeed $390,000, and it goes to $400,000 in 2009 according to MLB's press release when the labor deal was struck.

According to someone in the Brewers' Minor League operations, typical Minor League salary ranges break down like this:

Rookie ball: $1,100 per month to $1,300
A ball: $1,300 per month to $1,500
AA: $1,600 to $6,000
AAA: $2,500 to $15,000

It gets more complicated at the Double-A and Triple-A levels because there are six-year Minor League free agents in the mix who account for the high end of the Double-A scale. Most Double-A players are in the $1,600-$2,000 range.

At Triple-A, the low end is players who advanced through the various levels of the organization. The high end is for Minor League vets with big league experience.

That is a better answer than I could ever hope to give.