The following chart lists the Major League Baseball players who have earned the greatest total salary over their career (through the end of 2005 and not including bonuses).
$153,379,882 - Barry Bonds $130,890,502 - Kevin Brown $127,687,500 - Randy Johnson $126,027,000 - Alex Rodriguez $124,845,000 - Greg Maddux $123,568,000 - Sammy Sosa $121,001,000 - Roger Clemens $120,159,654 - Ken Griffey, Jr. $119,010,002 - Gary Sheffield $110,426,002 - Mike Piazza $110,363,431 - Larry Walker $108,765,000 - Jeff Bagwell $108,032,727 - Manny Ramirez $105,569,000 - Pedro Martinez $103,392,167 - Mike Mussina $103,145,653 - Tom Glavine $101,600,001 - Bernie Williams $100,405,001 - Mo Vaughn (retired) $ 97,430,000 - Derek Jeter $ 97,376,294 - Albert Belle (retired) $ 97,095,446 - John Smoltz $ 90,299,000 - Carlos Delgado $ 89,295,996 - Rafael Palmeiro $ 87,037,500 - Juan Gonzalez $ 86,014,000 - Frank Thomas $ 81,510,000 - Ivan Rodriguez $ 80,902,168 - Shawn Green $ 80,552,134 - Chipper Jones $ 80,158,000 - Curt Schilling $ 79,295,001 - Jim Thome $ 78,860,000 - Matt Williams (retired) $ 78,467,500 - Barry Larkin (retired) $ 77,571,543 - Mike Hampton $ 76,603,815 - Roberto Alomar (retired) $ 74,688,354 - Mark McGwire (retired) $ 73,015,500 - Craig Biggio $ 69,850,001 - Cal Ripken, Jr. (no data available for 1981-1984) $ 68,243,667 - John Olerud $ 68,100,100 - Al Leiter $ 67,135,000 - Robin Ventura $ 66,947,501 - David Cone (retired) $ 66,470,000 - Raul Mondesi $ 66,251,803 - Chan Ho Park $ 65,860,818 - Fred McGriff $ 65,743,750 - Kevin Appier $ 65,504,063 - Chuck Finley (retired) $ 65,155,500 - Moises Alou $ 63,530,125 - Mariano Rivera $ 60,206,500 - Andruw Jones $ 60,151,344 - Steve Finley
Annual Salary[]
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 $70,000 Babe Ruth New York Yankees 1930 $80,000 Babe Ruth New York Yankees 1949 $100,000 Ted Williams Boston Red Sox 1966 $130,000 Willie Mays San Francisco Giants 1972 $200,000 Hank Aaron Atlanta Braves 1975 $740,000 Catfish 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 contracts
1979 $1,000,000 Nolan Ryan Houston Astros 1981 $2,000,000 Dave Winfield New York Yankees 1985 $2,130,300 Mike Schmidt Philadelphia Phillies 1986 $2,800,000 George Foster New York Mets 1990 $3,000,000 Rickey Henderson Oakland Athletics 1991 $4,700,000 Jose Canseco Oakland Athletics 1992 $5,800,000 Bobby Bonilla New York Mets 1993 $5,975,000* Ryne Sandberg Chicago Cubs 1995 $9,237,500 Cecil Fielder Detroit Tigers 1997 $10,000,000 Albert Belle Cleveland Indians 1998 $14,936,667 Gary Sheffield Florida Marlins 2000 $15,714,286 Kevin Brown Los Angeles Dodgers 2001 $22,000,000 Alex Rodriguez Texas Rangers 2005 $26,000,000 Alex 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.
External links[]
- "The Century in Dollars and Cents", Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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