“Unveiling the Giants: Discover Which MLB Stars Raked in the Most Cash in History!”

From the echoes of Joe DiMaggio’s booing in 1938 to the current astronomical salaries reshaping Major League Baseball, one can’t help but marvel at how far the game has come. It’s almost laughable to think about a time when a player had to plead for a $10,000 raise, while today’s stars are cashing in tens of millions after just a handful of at-bats! With MLB salaries soaring over $4 billion since 2016, the gap between the past and present has never been more pronounced. So, who are the high rollers of the diamond now? Join me as we explore the largest contracts in baseball history—a list that’s not just a snapshot in time but a constantly moving target. Things change fast in this game, so you might want to read this one quickly—who knows, you could miss the next big record! LEARN MORE
Years: 2016-23; Average Annual Salary: ,000,000; Signing Age: 30

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.

Years: 2012-21; Average Annual Salary: ,000,000; Signing Age: 31

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.

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.

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.

The Largest Contracts in MLB History

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

Years: 2024-33; Average Annual Salary: ,350,000; Signing Age: 26

According to Forbes, MLB salaries totaled over billion in the five full seasons following 2016 (not including the 2020 pandemic-shortened campaign).

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

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

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.  

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

Rest assured, DiMaggio wouldn’t even recognize modern-day salaries, which have grown exponentially. Players often rake in ,000-plus per at-bat.

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

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 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.

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

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

Note: Traded to St. Louis Cardinals in 2021

T-9. Corey Seager, Texas Rangers – $325M (10 years)

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

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 became the largest contract in sports history, eclipsing Lionel Messi’s 3 million contract with FC Barcelona.

T-9. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers – $325M (12 years)

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

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

T-9. Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins – $325M (13 years)

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

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

12. Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees – $324M (9 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: 2021-32; Average Annual Salary: ,416,667; Signing Age: 27

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

Note: Traded to New York Yankees in 2004

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).

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

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).

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

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

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

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.

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

Years: 2014-23; Average Annual Salary: ,000,000; Signing Age: 31

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!

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

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).

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.

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

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

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.

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

Years: 2023-33; Average Annual Salary: ,272,727; 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.

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

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

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

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

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

T-22. Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals – $245M (7 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.

T-22. Anthony Rendon, Los Angeles Angels – $245M (7 years)

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

T-24. Robinson Cano, Seattle Mariners – $240M (10 years)

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

T-24. Albert Pujols, Los Angeles Angels – $240M (10 years)

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.

The post The Highest-Paid Players in MLB History appeared first on Opta Analyst.
Years: 2022-31; Average Annual Salary: ,100,000; Signing Age: 27