Benefits of being added to the 40-man roster

Ronan Kopp was added to the Dodgers’ 40-man roster on November 18, which puts the tall left-hander one step closer to reaching the major leagues. Same for outfielder and first baseman Ryan Ward, the reigning Pacific Coast League MVP who was added to the Dodgers’ roster on November 6.

Among the perks of getting added to the 40-man roster is starting things off in major league camp in spring training, which for the Dodgers in 2026 will be a full schedule in Arizona after opening up the last two regular seasons a week early in Asia. Kopp, a 2021 draftee, has not yet appeared in a major league spring training game. Ward was a non-roster invitee in major league camp to start each of the last three spring trainings.

Being on the 40-man roster also means a higher salary. The major league minimum for 2026 is $780,000, which comes to roughly $4,193.55 for every day on the active roster. But Kopp and Ward will also get raises while in the minors.

Minor leaguers also signed their own collective bargaining agreement in 2023 which came with salary increases, but they still pale in comparison to those on 40-man rosters. In 2025, the weekly pay for players in Double-A was $1,020, while Triple-A players were paid $1,225 per week. Kopp last season spent 13 weeks with Tulsa before getting promoted in July to Oklahoma City, for whom he pitched the final 11 weeks of the season. That comes to $26,735 for the entire season. Ward was in Triple-A all season, making $29,400.

Players on their first major league contracts in 2026 earn a minimum salary of $63,600 for their time in the minors. For players on subsequent major league contracts, the minor league minimum salary goes up, including $127,100 in 2026. But with the current collective bargaining agreement expiring next December, any such amounts in 2027 and beyond will need to be negotiated.