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Baseball has plenty of strange contract incentives, but Max Muncy has reached the portion of his deal where a four-pitch walk, a 450-foot home run and a weak grounder directly to second base are all worth exactly the same thing before he even gets back to the dugout: $15,000.
The Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman crossed 400 plate appearances this month, activating one of the funniest incentive structures in sports. According to MLB Trade Rumors, Muncy receives a $15,000 bonus for every plate appearance from No. 401 through No. 550, putting as much as $2.25 million in extra money on the table simply for continuing to walk toward home plate.
Max Muncy’s Groundouts Are Now Worth $15,000
Think about how absurd that is on a pitch-by-pitch basis.
Muncy can step into the box, watch four balls sail nowhere near the strike zone, and walk to first base $15,000 richer. He can strike out looking on three pitches and still trigger the same bonus. Hit by pitch? Fifteen grand. Routine fly ball? Fifteen grand.
The result of the at-bat does not matter. The plate appearance itself is the product.
A detailed FanSided breakdown revealed the unusual structure after Muncy signed his latest extension in February. The 2026 incentive was already attached to the $10 million option Los Angeles exercised for this season, but reaching 400 plate appearances finally turned it from fun contract trivia into an actual cash register.
And this is where the contract gets even better.
Those same trips to the plate can also increase what Muncy gets paid next season.
Some Plate Appearances Are Effectively Worth $50,000
Muncy’s new deal gives him a $7 million salary in 2027, with the official MLB.com announcement noting another $10 million club option for 2028.
But $7 million is only the starting point.
For every 2026 plate appearance from No. 401 through No. 500, another $20,000 gets added to Muncy’s 2027 salary. From No. 501 through No. 550, the escalator jumps to $35,000 per appearance, according to the Spotrac contract.
That means plate appearances 401 through 500 are effectively worth $35,000 apiece when combining this year’s $15,000 bonus with next year’s $20,000 salary bump.
Nos. 501 through 550?
$50,000 each.
Muncy could come up with the bases loaded, hit into an inning-ending double play and still have that particular plate appearance produce more money than plenty of Americans make in a year.
If he reaches 550 appearances, he can collect the entire $2.25 million bonus this season while adding the maximum $3.75 million to his 2027 salary, pushing that number from $7 million to $10.75 million.
There are performance bonuses for home runs, awards and innings pitched all over professional sports.
Muncy just needs the Dodgers to keep writing his name on the lineup card.
For the next few weeks, showing up really is half the battle.
And apparently it pays $15,000.