As MLB emerges from a three-month lockout, its ten top earners are set to collect $377 million combined this year, an all-time high.
Major League Baseball and its players’ union spent three months arguing about whether the economics of the game were broken, with one point of contention being that the average player salary had stagnated even as team values soared. The resulting collective bargaining agreement, reached last month, did little to change that reality.
For players at the top of the heap, though, business has never been better.
Baseball’s ten highest-paid players are set to collect a record $377 million combined this year before taxes and agents’ fees, up 6% from last year’s all-time high of $356.6 million. Max Scherzer, the New York Mets’ new ace, leads the way with a record total for the sport of $59.3 million, including $43.3 million from his 2022 salary and $15 million in deferred money from his previous contract with the Washington Nationals. He also earns an estimated $1 million off the field from endorsements, licensing, appearances and memorabilia.
Scherzer’s three-year, $130 million agreement with the Mets was hardly the only major deal of the last few months, though. According to Spotrac’s tracking, free-agent spending hit $1.9 billion in November as teams raced to complete deals before the lockout began in December. That figure alone would have represented the second-biggest off-season in the 11 years of Spotrac’s data, behind only 2016’s $2.4 billion. But MLB’s 30 clubs eventually committed far more, inking $3.2 billion in new contracts across the off-season. That includes new $100 million deals for eight players who do not even appear among baseball’s ten highest-paid heading into tomorrow’s opening day.
Still, that kind of compensation is relatively rare in baseball, leaving the majority of players fighting for their share. Agents, pointing to the league’s revenue-sharing system, believe the new CBA should have done more to force owners to invest in their clubs. “We want every major league franchise to be incentivized to compete,” says Scott Boras, who represents seven of baseball’s nine highest-paid players this year (all but Mike Trout and Miguel Cabrera).
The new CBA also didn’t fundamentally alter the system that keeps budding stars off the free market, forcing them to accumulate “service time” on an active roster and then go through salary arbitration before reaching free agency. Meanwhile, armed with new analytics and methods of evaluating talent, teams continue to prioritize younger, cheaper players.
Add it all up, and player pay isn’t keeping pace with gains by team owners. Although MLB’s minimum salary will rise 23% this season, to $700,000, a 2021 Associated Press study found that the average major league salary had dropped 6.4% since the start of the 2017 season, to $4.17 million. The report also found that middle-class players had been hurt the worst, with the median salary falling 30% from 2015, to $1.15 million. Meanwhile, from 2015 to 2021, the average team value jumped 73%; it is up another 9% this year, to $2.07 billion.
Even worse, aside from Los Angeles Angels two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani, MLB players generally can’t count on the kinds of marketing opportunities that are available to athletes in sports like basketball, football and tennis. Among the factors: Baseball’s fan base tends to be older and more regional, its marketing strategy generally focuses on teams over players, and its everyday schedule leaves few chances for players to engage with sponsors. Combined, MLB’s ten highest-paid players this season are set to bank $15 million off the field, compared with $305 million for the NBA’s top ten, $281 million for tennis’ and $111 million for the NFL’s.
Fortunately for baseball’s elite, the bull market at the top end has some momentum: Of the 11 largest contracts in MLB history, nine began within the last three years.
Here are baseball’s ten highest-paid players for 2022.
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Max Scherzer’s three-year, $130 million deal with the New York Mets, struck in December, set an MLB mark with its average annual salary, easily eclipsing New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole’s $36 million figure from two off-seasons prior. While Scherzer’s new contract is scheduled to end after the 2024 season, he’ll continue to receive $15 million in deferred money from his previous deal every year through 2028. The 37-year-old pitcher can add $200,000 if he wins a fourth Cy Young Award, among other reported contract incentives.
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The burst of spending in free agency didn’t touch Mike Trout’s mark for the largest contract in MLB history, at $426.5 million over 12 years. The 30-year-old center fielder is entering the fourth year of the deal with the Los Angeles Angels, coming off a season in which a calf injury limited him to 36 games. Trout has long-term endorsement deals with ten brands, including Nike, Bodyarmor and J&J Snack Foods.
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An unrestricted free agent for the first time, Corey Seager scored a ten-year, $325 million deal from the Texas Rangers, prying him away from the Los Angeles Dodgers. The shortstop, who turns 28 this month, counts Adidas, Modelo and TravisMathew apparel among his sponsors.
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Gerrit Cole lost his MLB record for average annual salary to Max Scherzer, but the nine-year, $324 million contract he signed with the New York Yankees in December 2019 remains the largest for a pitcher in baseball history. The 31-year-old posted his fourth straight top-five finish in the Cy Young Award voting last year.
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Anthony Rendon is entering the third season of a seven-year, $245 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels, but the 31-year-old third baseman is coming off a disappointing 2021 campaign in which he played only 58 games and batted .240.
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Testing the free-agency waters for the first time, Carlos Correa leapt from the Houston Astros to the Minnesota Twins on a three-year, $105.3 million contract. The 27-year-old shortstop can also opt out of the deal and return to free agency after the 2022 or 2023 seasons.
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Stephen Strasburg is in Year 3 of a seven-year, $245 million contract with the Washington Nationals but has pitched only seven games the last two seasons combined. The 33-year-old will miss the start of this season as well while working his way back from an operation to fix a nerve issue in his neck. On top of his $23.6 million salary this season, Strasburg will receive $10 million in deferred money from his previous contract.
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Miguel Cabrera signed his eight-year, $248 million contract with the Detroit Tigers in 2014, and it kicked in in 2016. He’s no longer the same player, but he is just 13 hits from reaching 3,000 for his career, after entering the 500-homer club in 2021. The designated hitter, who turns 39 this month, has endorsement deals with eight brands, including Adidas, Kroger and Chevrolet.
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Bryce Harper was baseball’s endorsement king until Shohei Ohtani overtook him last year, but the 29-year-old right fielder still has a valuable portfolio that includes brands like Under Armour, Gatorade and Dairy Queen. Harper, the National League’s reigning MVP, is entering the fourth season of his 13-year, $330 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.
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David Price is entering the final season of a seven-year, $217 million contract he signed in December 2015; the 36-year-old Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher and Miguel Cabrera are the only two members of this list whose deals were signed before 2019.
Methodology
The Forbes ranking of baseball’s highest-paid players reflects on-field earnings for the 2022 season, including base salaries, signing bonuses and deferred payments. Incentives that are based on individual or team performance are not included.
The off-field earnings estimates are determined through conversations with industry insiders and reflect annual cash from endorsements, licensing, appearances and memorabilia, as well as any businesses operated by the players. Forbes does not include investment income like interest payments or dividends and does not deduct for taxes or agents’ fees.
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brettknight/2022/04/06/baseballs-highest-paid-players-2022-free-agent-frenzy-shakes-up-top-10-with-a-new-record-at-no-1/