- List of highest paid baseball players
Career Earnings
The following chart lists the
Major League Baseball players who have earned the greatest total salary over their career (through the end of by|2006 and not including bonuses).1. $188,245,322 -
Barry Bonds 2. $170,416,252 -Alex Rodriguez 3. $152,449,473 -Randy Johnson 4. $143,845,000 -Greg Maddux 5. $143,328,346 -Manny Ramírez 6. $140,682,244 -Gary Sheffield 7. $139,630,000 -Derek Jeter 8. $139,070,987 -Ken Griffey, Jr. 9. $134,446,234 -Pedro Martínez 10. $133,462,590 -Mike Mussina 11. $130,890,502 - Kevin Brown (retired) 12. $128,134,019 -Jeff Bagwell (retired) 13. $124,068,000 -Sammy Sosa 14. $121,001,000 -Roger Clemens 15. $120,639,293 -Tom Glavine 16. $120,176,002 -Mike Piazza 17. $118,299,000 -Carlos Delgado 18. $116,095,446 -John Smoltz 19. $110,363,431 -Larry Walker (retired) 20. $108,295,001 -Jim Thome 21. $106,575,086 -Mike Hampton 22. $106,158,000 -Curt Schilling 23. $105,218,800 -Chipper Jones 24. $103,100,001 -Bernie Williams (retired) 25. $102,694,049 -Iván Rodríguez 26. $101,630,425 -Jason Giambi 27. $100,616,066 -Shawn Green 28. $100,405,001 -Mo Vaughn (retired) 29. $ 97,376,294 -Albert Belle (retired) 30. $ 92,082,416 -Andy Pettitte 31. $ 92,074,000 - Frank Thomas 32. $ 89,295,996 -Rafael Palmeiro (retired) 33. $ 87,706,500 -Andruw Jones 34. $ 87,037,500 - Juan González (retired) 35. $ 84,530,125 -Mariano Rivera 36. $ 82,165,500 -Craig Biggio (retired) 37. $ 81,930,000 -Vladimir Guerrero 38. $ 81,756,945 -Chan Ho Park 39. $ 80,340,000 -Todd Helton 40. $ 78,860,000 - Matt Williams (retired) 41. $ 78,483,474 -Moisés Alou 42. $ 78,467,500 -Barry Larkin (retired) 43. $ 77,572,907 -Jim Edmonds 44. $ 77,250,617 -Jeff Kent 45. $ 76,603,815 -Roberto Alomar (retired) 46. $ 76,379,666 -Bobby Abreu 47. $ 74,688,354 -Mark McGwire (retired) 48. $ 74,665,500 - Kenny Rogers 49. $ 71,501,973 -Scott Rolen 50. $ 71,189,000 -Johnny Damon Source for career earnings: [http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/leaders_salaries.shtml Baseball Reference] "
2007 Annual Salaries
Ninety-eight players made $8 million or more in 2007 season.The following chart lists the top-twenty highest paid players. 1.
Alex Rodriguez New York Yankees $ 26,000,000 2.Jason Giambi New York Yankees $ 23,428,571 3.Derek Jeter New York Yankees $ 21,600,000 4.Manny Ramírez Boston Red Sox $ 17,016,381 5.Todd Helton Colorado Rockies $ 16,600,000 6.Andy Pettitte New York Yankees $ 16,000,000 7.Bartolo Colón Los Angeles Angels $ 16,000,000 8.Jason Schmidt Los Angeles Dodgers $ 15,703,946 9.Jim Thome Chicago White Sox $ 15,666,667 10.Bobby Abreu New York Yankees $ 15,600,000 11.Barry Bonds San Francisco Giants $ 15,533,970 12.Richie Sexson Seattle Mariners $ 15,500,000 13.Mike Hampton Atlanta Braves $ 15,475,185 14.Carlos Delgado New York Mets $ 14,500,000 15.Vladimir Guerrero Los Angeles Angels $ 14,500,000 16.Lance Berkman Houston Astros $ 14,500,000 17.J.D. Drew Boston Red Sox $ 14,400,000 18.Pedro Martínez New York Mets $ 14,002,234 19.Andruw Jones Atlanta Braves $ 14,000,000 20.Miguel Tejada Baltimore Orioles $ 13,811,415Source for 2007 salaries: [http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/teams/salaries ESPN] "
Annual Salaries by Year
The following chart reveals the evolution of the highest paid player in
Major League Baseball . A player's yearly salary is considered to be for the maximum value of the contract divided by the term of the contract in years.YEAR SALARY/YR PLAYER TEAM/ORGANIZATION
1927 $70,000Babe Ruth New York Yankees 1930 $80,000Babe Ruth New York Yankees 1949 $100,000Ted Williams Boston Red Sox 1966 $130,000Willie Mays San Francisco Giants 1972 $200,000Hank Aaron Atlanta Braves 1975 $740,000Catfish Hunter New York Yankees Major League Baseball's
reserve clause was struck down in 1976, beginning an era of free agency and thus market-value player contracts1979 $1,000,000Nolan Ryan Houston Astros 1981 $2,000,000Dave Winfield New York Yankees 1985 $2,130,300Mike Schmidt Philadelphia Phillies 1986 $2,800,000 George FosterNew York Mets 1990 $3,000,000Rickey Henderson Oakland Athletics 1991 $4,700,000José Canseco Oakland Athletics 1992 $5,800,000Bobby Bonilla New York Mets 1993 $5,975,000*Ryne Sandberg Chicago Cubs 1995 $9,237,500Cecil Fielder Detroit Tigers 1997 $10,000,000Albert Belle Chicago White Sox 1998 $14,936,667Gary Sheffield Florida Marlins 2000 $15,714,286 Kevin BrownLos Angeles Dodgers 2001 $22,000,000Alex Rodriguez Texas Rangers2005 $26,000,000Alex Rodriguez New York Yankees * Ryne Sandberg's 1993 contract was originally for $7,100,000 per year, but he retired before the contract expired and forfeited the back-loaded end of the contract.Largest Contracts
The following chart lists the
Major League Baseball players who have signed contracts worth $100 million or more (including bonuses, but not including options or buyouts). Four of the top five were signed in the 2000-2001 off-season.Derek Jeter 's,Todd Helton 's,Albert Pujols ', andVernon Wells ', contracts were extensions offered by their current teams.Ken Griffey, Jr. was traded by theSeattle Mariners to theCincinnati Reds onFebruary 10 ,2000 and signed a contract extension with the Reds the same day. The remaining contracts were signed viafree agency and involved the player moving to a new team.External links
* [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/specials/moneyinsports/sportstimeline.pdf "The Century in Dollars and Cents"] , "Seattle Post-Intelligencer"
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