“Unveiling the Billion-Dollar League: The Top Earners in MLB History You Never Knew About!”

Baseball has undergone a revolutionary transformation when it comes to player contracts, from the days when even legends like Joe DiMaggio felt the sting of boos despite stellar performance. Imagine a time when a baseball superstar was making just $25,000 a year and facing public scrutiny for wanting a raise—it’s nearly unimaginable in today’s financial landscape. Fast forward to now, and we’re talking jaw-dropping sums that would make DiMaggio dizzy. As the game evolves, so do the stakes, and the highest salaries in Major League Baseball seem to change with the seasons. Dive into our exploration of the largest contracts in MLB history and marvel at the figures that have redefined what it means to be a king of the diamond. But remember—don’t blink, because the records are constantly being rewritten! If you’re curious to learn more about the highest-paid players and their record-breaking achievements, LEARN MORE.
Years: 2024-33; Average Annual Salary: ,350,000; Signing Age: 26

Years: 2023-31; Average Annual Salary: ,000,000; Signing Age: 30

The signing of Yamamoto out of Japan in December 2023 was part of quite the signing spree by the Dodgers after getting ousted by the rival Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 playoffs. They inked Shohei Ohtani to a historic deal, traded for and then signed Tyler Glasnow and added the best free-agent pitcher out of Japan in Yamamoto. The contract does offer the 5-foot-10, 176-pound ace opt-out opportunities after 2028 and 2032. The three moves totaled an eye-popping .1 billion.

Years: 2023-33; Average Annual Salary: ,818,182; Signing Age: 30

A-Rod re-signed with the Bronx Bombers after opting out of the final three seasons and million of a landmark 2 million deal (now No. 12) with the Texas Rangers in 2001, which had more than doubled the previous record contract (Colorado Rockies 2000 free agent signee Mike Hampton’s deal for eight years, 1 million).

The Largest Contracts in MLB History

MLB teams have increasingly sought to sign younger players to long-term contracts at the service-time level, but Tatis’ shattered previous deals. He was 22 in February 2021 when extended to baseball’s longest contract in years (14).

1. Juan Soto, New York Mets – $765M (15 years)

Years: 2019-26; Average Annual Salary: ,500,000; Signing Age: 27

2. Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers – $700M (10 years)

The rich got richer as the 2022 NL champions signed another star to team with Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, Nick Castellanos, Rhys Hoskins, Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler.

Years: 2023-33; Average Annual Salary: ,454,545; Signing Age: 30

3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays – $500M (14 years)

Cole and the Yankees made the math easy with a million base salary in each of the nine years of the free agent pitcher’s contract. Interestingly, Cole was the No. 1 pick in a 2011 draft top 10 that included Lindor, Anthony Rendon (tied for 14th below) and Trevor Bauer (his million 2022 salary is a one-year high; Max Scherzer’s .3M is the overall average high for MLB contracts).

Years: 2019-28; Average Annual Salary: ,000,000; Signing Age: 26

4. Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels – $426.5M (12 years)

Years: 2024-38; Average Annual Salary: ,000,000; Signing Age: 26

The Mets landed the biggest free agent of the 2024 offseason, with New York and Soto reportedly agreeing on a massive 15-year, 5 million deal. Unlike Ohtani’s groundbreaking contract, the deal contains no deferred money but includes escalators that can push the contract beyond 0 million and an opt-out after the 2029 season. It’s the largest contract in the history of professional sports.

After signing baseball’s then-richest contract following the 2014 season, Stanton played three more years with the Marlins before they traded him to the New York Yankees. While ridding themselves of the final 10 years of the deal, the Marlins agreed to pay million, which will be spread across 2026-28.

5. Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers – $365M (12 years)

The following are the largest contracts in Major League Baseball history. But don’t delay, because the list of the highest-paid baseball players is an ever-changing one.

Years: 2020-26; Average Annual Salary: ,000,000; Signing Age: 29

6. Aaron Judge, New York Yankees – $360M (9 years)

Years: 2016-23; Average Annual Salary: ,000,000; Signing Age: 30

Years: 2022-31; Average Annual Salary: ,500,000; Signing Age: 27

7. Manny Machado, San Diego Padres – $350 (11 years)

The following are the largest contracts in baseball. But don’t delay, because the list of the highest-paid players in MLB history is an ever-changing one.

The post The Highest-Paid Players in MLB History appeared first on Opta Analyst.

8. Francisco Lindor, New York Mets – $341M (10 years)

Guerrero Jr.’s extension in Toronto allowed him to avoid free agency while securing the third largest contract in MLB history. Unlike some others on this list, Guerrero Jr.’s deal includes no deferred compensation and provides him with a no-trade clause.

Years: 2023-32; Average Annual Salary: ,000,000; Signing Age: 29

9. Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres – $340M (14 years)

Years: 2015-27; Average Annual Salary: ,000,000; Signing Age: 25

Seager and the Rangers beat the start of the lockout in December 2021 with the second-highest free agent contract in major league history. The Rangers agreed to a seven-year, 5 million contract with Marcus Semien just 24 hours earlier, so they had a half-billion dollars worth of middle infield deals in a two-day span.

10. Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies – $330M (13 years)

Years: 2024-35; Average Annual Salary: ,083,333; Signing Age: 25

Years: 2020-26; Average Annual Salary: ,000,000; Signing Age: 31

T-11. Corey Seager, Texas Rangers – $325M (10 years)

Let’s face it, the Red Sox had to keep someone. After losing stars Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts in recent seasons, Boston made sure Devers didn’t get away. Devers had actually previously agreed to a .5 million salary for 2023, so this was not an 11-year, 1-million extension as many reported. It was, however, easily the largest deal in franchise history.

Years: 2022-31; Average Annual Salary: ,100,000; Signing Age: 27

T-11. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers – $325M (12 years)

Rest assured, DiMaggio wouldn’t even recognize modern-day salaries, which have grown exponentially.

To underscore salary escalation, consider this: In less than three years after Machado’s deal more than doubled the largest in Padres history, he’s gone from having baseball’s highest free-agent contract to fourth, from having the second-highest contract behind Stanton to ninth, and even dropped to No. 2 on the Padres behind Tatis despite being at 0 million. The Padres extended Machado in 2023 before this deal came to an end.

T-11. Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins – $325M (13 years)

After trading for Betts from the Boston Red Sox in February 2020, the Dodgers inked the outfielder to a contract extension in July right before the start of the pandemic-delayed season. It included an MLB-record million signing bonus.  

Judge bet on himself in 2022, turning down a seven-year, 3.5-million deal before the season and accepting this megadeal after hitting an AL record-tying 62 home runs. Cha-ching!

14. Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees – $324M (9 years)

Years: 2008-17; Average Annual Salary: ,500,000; Signing Age: 32

Big-league players didn’t have a lot of bargaining power at that time, so DiMaggio was viewed negatively when he argued about his worth. Team owner Jacob Ruppert drew a line with a ,000 salary increase from ,000 from ,000, and did all the Joltin’ to Joe by publicly criticizing him.

15. Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox – $313.5M (10 years)

Note: Traded to St. Louis Cardinals in 2021

Years: 2019-31; Average Annual Salary: ,384,615; Signing Age: 26

16. Manny Machado, San Diego Padres – $300M (10 years)

Years: 2026-39; Average Annual Salary: ,714,286; Signing Age: 26

Years: 2024-34; Average MLB Salary: .25M; Signing Age: 23

17. Trea Turner, Philadelphia Phillies – $300M (11 years)

Note: Traded to New York Yankees in 2004

Years: 2019-30; Average Annual Salary: ,541,667; Signing Age: 27

18. Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals – $288.8M (11 years)

(Via Spotrac; contract values do not include proration with the shortened 2020 season)

Years: 2021-32; Average Annual Salary: ,416,667; Signing Age: 27

19. Xander Bogaerts, San Diego Padres – $280 (11 years)

Years: 2001-10; Average Annual Salary: ,200,000; Signing Age: 25

Before Harper’s contract was surpassed by Trout in the top-this spending spree prior to the 2019 season, it bettered Manny Machado’s then-record total (now No. 9) just one week earlier. It still ranks highest among baseball free agent contracts (non-extensions).

20. Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees – $275M (10 years)

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The Royals showed how a small market franchise will still go all-in with a young star, giving Witt a contract of 11 guaranteed seasons after just his second overall in MLB. Witt has four player opt-outs beginning after the 2030 season, but there’s also a three-year team option following the 2034 campaign that could extend the deal to 14 years, 7.7 million.

21. Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies – $260M (8 years)

Yankees fans booed Joe DiMaggio to start the 1938 season, even though a year earlier he hit .346 with career highs in hits (215), home runs (46), RBIs (167), runs (151), total bases (418) and slugging percentage (.673).

Years: 2021-34; Average Annual Salary: ,285,714; Signing Age: 22

21. Alex Rodriguez, Texas Rangers – $252M (10 years)

There was quite a stir when it was mistakenly reported that Ohtani was headed to Toronto to play for the Blue Jays. A day later, Ohtani announced he was simply going across town to play for the Dodgers. The contract terms were indeed staggering, surpassing what most people estimated would be a 0-600 million deal. It was the largest contract in sports history, eclipsing Lionel Messi’s 3 million contract with FC Barcelona, until a year later when Soto set the new standard.

The spending spree continued at the 2022 Winter Meetings – in San Diego – when the hometown Padres stole Bogaerts away from the Boston Red Sox on yet another megadeal. Several of the top contracts on this list were signed in the 2022 offseason.

23. Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers – $248M (8 years)

Trout’s contract, signed in March 2019, added two years to the star outfielder’s existing deal with the Angels and easily remains the highest in MLB history. The amount was over 0 million higher than Bryce Harper’s then-No. 1 deal (now No. 5) signed just weeks earlier.

T-24. Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals – $245M (7 years)

Lindor agreed to a contract extension in March 2021, just over two months after the Mets acquired the shortstop from Cleveland. With million in deferred compensation, the deal will keep on giving through annual million payments from 2032-41.

T-24. Anthony Rendon, Los Angeles Angels – $245M (7 years)

Years: 2020-28; Average Annual Salary: ,000,000; Signing Age: 29

Years: 2023-33; Average Annual Salary: ,272,727; Signing Age: 30
This is the first of Machado’s two appearances on this list. This massive extension overwrites the 10-year, 0 million deal the star third baseman signed with the Padres in 2019. The deal came down after Machado announced he intended to opt out of the final five years (and 0 million) of the original contract after preliminary negotiations on an extension broke down.