# List of highest-paid Major League Baseball players

Major League Baseball (MLB) does not have a hard salary cap, instead employing a luxury tax that applies to teams whose total payroll exceeds certain set thresholds for a given season. Free agency did not exist in MLB prior to the end of the reserve clause in the 1970s, allowing owners before that time to wholly dictate the terms of player negotiations and resulting in significantly lower salaries.
Babe Ruth, widely regarded as one of the greatest baseball players ever, earned an estimated $856,850 ($20,140,238 inflation-adjusted from 1934 dollars) over his entire playing career. When asked whether he thought he deserved to earn $80,000 a year ($1,505,817 inflation-adjusted), while the president, Herbert Hoover, had a $75,000 salary, Ruth famously remarked, "What the hell has Hoover got to do with it? Besides, I had a better year than he did."
Pitcher Nolan Ryan was the first player to earn an annual salary above $1 million, signing a $4.5 million, 4-year contract with the Houston Astros in 1979. Kirby Puckett and Rickey Henderson signed the first contracts which paid an average of $3 million a year in November 1989. In 1990, Jose Canseco signed for 5 years and $23.5 million, making him the first player to earn an average of $4 million a year. It wasn't until 2010 when the average salary for all MLB players exceeded $4 million.
Alex Rodriguez signed two record-breaking contracts during his career. First, he signed a $252 million, 10-year contract with the Texas Rangers in December 2000 ($460,125,217 inflation-adjusted from 2000 dollars). Baseball executive Sandy Alderson called the deal "stupefying," while Sports Illustrated noted that Rodriguez's early salaries under the contract ($21 million) would be greater than the annual payroll of the entire Minnesota Twins team that year ($15.8 million). The deal was the largest sports contract in history, doubling the total value of Kevin Garnett's $126 million National Basketball Association contract (the previous record holder) and more than doubling Mike Hampton's $121 million contract, the previous MLB record which had been signed just days before. The Rangers traded Rodriguez before the 2004 season to the New York Yankees for Alfonso Soriano, though Texas agreed to pay $67 million of the $179 million outstanding on the contract. Rodriguez then opted out of the remainder of his deal after the 2007 season and renegotiated a new $275 million, 10-year agreement with the Yankees, breaking his own record for the largest sports contract.
Five of the 20 highest-paid players in 2013 were members of the Yankees. Their 2013 payroll was $228,835,490, roughly $12 million above the second-largest Los Angeles Dodgers. The Yankees have drawn criticism for their payroll, with some claiming it undermines the parity of MLB. From 2003 to 2024, the Yankees' payroll exceeded the luxury tax threshold every year except 2018 and 2021. Following 2020, the Dodgers and New York Mets have led the majors in payroll. The Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani to a ten-year, $700 million contract before the 2024 season, though most of that money was deferred. Accounting for net present value, Juan Soto signed a larger contract with the Mets before the 2025 season, a 15-year, $765 million contract with no deferred money.

## Key

Key :
| † | Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum |
| 1B | First baseman |
| 2B | Second baseman |
| 3B | Third baseman |
| SS | Shortstop |
| LF | Left fielder |
| CF | Center fielder |
| RF | Right fielder |
| C | Catcher |
| SP | Starting pitcher |
| RP | Relief pitcher |
| DH | Designated hitter |

## Highest current annual salaries

This table refers to the average annual salary for 2025, without considering signing bonuses or deferred payments.
| Rank | Name | Position | Team(s) | Salary |
| 1 | Shohei Ohtani | DH/SP | Los Angeles Dodgers | $70 million |
| 2 | Juan Soto | OF | New York Mets | $51 million |
| 3 | Zach Wheeler | SP | Philadelphia Phillies | $42 million |
| 4 | Aaron Judge | OF | New York Yankees | $40 million |
| 4 | Alex Bregman | 3B | Boston Red Sox | $40 million |
| 6 | Jacob deGrom | SP | Texas Rangers | $37 million |
| 7 | Blake Snell | SP | Los Angeles Dodgers | $36.4 million |
| 8 | Gerrit Cole | SP | New York Yankees | $36 million |
| 9 | Mike Trout | OF | Los Angeles Angels | $35.5 million |
| 10 | Anthony Rendon | 3B | Los Angeles Angels | $35 million |
| 10 | Corbin Burnes | SP | Arizona Diamondbacks | $35 million |

## Top 10 career earnings

    Earnings up to date as of the end of the 2024 season.
| Name | Team(s) | Position | Years | Earnings |
| Alex Rodriguez | Seattle Mariners Texas Rangers New York Yankees | SS, 3B | 1994–2016 | $455.2 million |
| Justin Verlander | Detroit Tigers Houston Astros New York Mets San Francisco Giants | SP | 2006–Present | $394.2 million |
| Miguel Cabrera | Florida Marlins Detroit Tigers | 1B, 3B | 2003–2023 | $393.2 million |
| Albert Pujols | St. Louis Cardinals Los Angeles Angels Los Angeles Dodgers | 1B, 3B, OF, DH | 2001–2022 | $341.8 million |
| Zack Greinke | Kansas City Royals Milwaukee Brewers Los Angeles Angels Los Angeles Dodgers Arizona Diamondbacks Houston Astros | SP | 2004–Present | $315.9 million |
| Max Scherzer | Arizona Diamondbacks Detroit Tigers Washington Nationals Los Angeles Dodgers New York Mets Texas Rangers Toronto Blue Jays | SP | 2008–Present | $314.6 million |
| Clayton Kershaw | Los Angeles Dodgers | SP | 2009–Present | $298.7 million |
| Mike Trout | Los Angeles Angels | OF | 2011-Present | $267.7 million |
| Derek Jeter† | New York Yankees | SS | 1995–2014 | $266.3 million |
| C.C. Sabathia† | Cleveland Indians Milwaukee Brewers New York Yankees | SP | 2001–2019 | $264.8 million |

## Salary progression

    This list documents the progression of the highest average annual value contracts/contract extensions.
| Average annual salary | Date signed | Name | Team | Position | Contract duration (Years) |
| $166,667 | February 17, 1971 | Carl Yastrzemski† | Boston Red Sox | OF | 3 |
| $250,000 | February 27, 1973 | Dick Allen | Chicago White Sox | 1B | 3 |
| $640,000 | December 31, 1974 | Catfish Hunter† | New York Yankees | SP | 5 |
| $800,000 | February 3, 1979 | Rod Carew† | California Angels | 1B | 5 |
| $1,170,000 | November 19, 1979 | Nolan Ryan† | Houston Astros | SP | 3 |
| $2,500,000 | December 15, 1980 | Dave Winfield† | New York Yankees | RF | 10 |
| $2,600,000 | September 4, 1985 | Eddie Murray† | Baltimore Orioles | 1B | 5 |
| $2,633,333 | February 16, 1989 | Orel Hershiser | Los Angeles Dodgers | SP | 3 |
| $2,970,000 | November 17, 1989 | Bret Saberhagen | Kansas City Royals | SP | 3 |
| $3,000,000 | November 22, 1989 | Kirby Puckett† | Minnesota Twins | CF | 3 |
| $3,200,000 | December 1, 1989 | Mark Langston | California Angels | SP | 5 |
| $3,250,000 | December 11, 1989 | Mark Davis | Kansas City Royals | SP | 4 |
| $3,500,000 | January 17, 1990 | Dave Stewart | Oakland Athletics | SP | 2 |
| $3,750,000 | January 22, 1990 | Will Clark | San Francisco Giants | 1B | 4 |
| $3,860,000 | April 9, 1990 | Don Mattingly | New York Yankees | 1B | 5 |
| $4,700,000 | June 28, 1990 | Jose Canseco | Oakland Athletics | RF/DH | 5 |
| $5,380,000 | February 2, 1991 | Roger Clemens | Boston Red Sox | SP | 4 |
| $5,800,000 | December 2, 1991 | Bobby Bonilla | New York Mets | 3B/RF | 5 |
| $7,100,000 | March 2, 1992 | Ryne Sandberg† | Chicago Cubs | 2B | 4 |
| $7,290,000 | December 6, 1992 | Barry Bonds | San Francisco Giants | LF | 6 |
| $8,500,000 | January 31, 1996 | Ken Griffey Jr.† | Seattle Mariners | CF | 4 |
| $11,000,000 | November 19, 1996 | Albert Belle | Chicago White Sox | LF | 5 |
| $11,450,000 | March 20, 1997 | Barry Bonds | San Francisco Giants | LF | 2 |
| $11,500,000 | August 10, 1997 | Greg Maddux† | Atlanta Braves | SP | 5 |
| $12,500,000 | December 10, 1997 | Pedro Martínez† | Boston Red Sox | SP | 6 |
| $13,000,000 | October 26, 1998 | Mike Piazza† | New York Mets | C | 7 |
| $13,333,333 | November 25, 1998 | Mo Vaughn | Anaheim Angels | 1B | 6 |
| $15,000,000 | December 12, 1998 | Kevin Brown | Los Angeles Dodgers | SP | 7 |
| $15,450,000 | August 11, 2000 | Roger Clemens | New York Yankees | SP | 2 |
| $17,000,000 | October 20, 2000 | Carlos Delgado | Toronto Blue Jays | 1B | 4 |
| $25,200,000 | December 10, 2000 | Alex Rodriguez | Texas Rangers | SS | 10 |
| $27,500,000 | December 13, 2007 | Alex Rodriguez | New York Yankees | 3B | 10 |
| $30,714,285 | January 15, 2014 | Clayton Kershaw | Los Angeles Dodgers | SP | 7 |
| $31,000,000 | March 27, 2014 | Miguel Cabrera | Detroit Tigers | 1B | 8 |
| $34,400,000 | December 8, 2015 | Zack Greinke | Arizona Diamondbacks | SP | 6 |
| $35,541,667 | March 19, 2019 | Mike Trout | Los Angeles Angels | CF | 12 |
| $36,000,000 | December 16, 2019 | Gerrit Cole | New York Yankees | SP | 9 |
| $43,333,333 | November 29, 2021 | Max Scherzer | New York Mets | SP | 3 |
| $46,081,476 | December 11, 2023 | Shohei Ohtani | Los Angeles Dodgers | DH/SP | 10 |
| $51,000,000 | December 9, 2024 | Juan Soto | New York Mets | OF | 15 |