Who Is the Highest Paid Baseball Player?

The answer may surprise you – it’s not always the superstar slugger or the ace pitcher. Find out who the highest paid player is in baseball.

Alex Rodriguez

Alex Rodriguez is an American baseball infielder who has played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), and is currently a free agent. He has played for the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, and New York Yankees, and has been elected to the All-Star team 14 times. He is also a three-time American League (AL) MVP, and has won two World Series championships. Rodriguez is one of the most controversial players in MLB history, due to his involvement in the use of performance-enhancing drugs. In August 2013, Rodriguez was suspended for 211 games by MLB for his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal, which was the longest non-lifetime suspension ever handed down by the league.

Early life and family

Rodriguez was born to a Dominican father, Victor Rodriguez, and a Canadian mother, Lourdes Navarro, who eventually divorced. He has two half-siblings, Joseph and Suzy. Growing up, Rodriguez was an avid Boston Red Sox fan and cites Vladimir Guerrero—among others—as his favorite players growing up. While his favorite player changed as he progressed through his career, he still lists Guerrero as his favorite player of all time.

Education

Alex Rodriguez was born on July 27, 1975, in New York City. His parents, Lourdes and Victor Rodriguez, emigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic in the 1960s. They had five children together, and Alex was the youngest. Growing up in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, Rodriguez excelled at baseball and basketball. Although he dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player, his parents encouraged him to focus on his education. He attended Christopher Columbus High School, where he played shortstop on the varsity baseball team. After graduation, he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the first round of the 1993 Major League Baseball draft.

Professional career

Rodriguez began his career as one of the sport’s most highly hailed prospects, and is considered one of the greatest baseball players of his generation. He signed a record-setting 10-year, $252 million contract with the Texas Rangers when he was just 22 years old. The contract was the richest contract in baseball history at the time. Rodriguez played for the Rangers from 2001 to 2003. In 2004, he was traded to the New York Yankees, with whom he played for nine seasons. He is currently a free agent.

During his time with the Yankees, Rodriguez helped lead the team to four World Series championships. He was also named American League MVP three times (2005, 2007, 2009) and won two Gold Glove Awards (2002, 2003). In 2007, he became just the seventh player in Major League history to hit 500 home runs. He currently ranks fifth on Major League Baseball’s all-time home run list with 696 career home runs.

Salary

In 2007, Alex Rodriguez became baseball’s first $300 million man. His 10-year contract with the New York Yankees was for $275 million, plus an additional $30 million signing bonus. At the time, it was the most expensive contract in baseball history.

Rodriguez’s yearly salary averages out to $27.5 million per season. In 2009, he was the highest paid player in Major League Baseball, earning a salary of $33 million. He retained that title in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.

Since his contract is structured so that his salary decreases over time, he is projected to be paid $20 million in 2016 and $21 million in 2017. He will be a free agent after the 2017 season.

Buster Posey

Buster Posey is the highest paid baseball player in 2020. He is a catcher for the San Francisco Giants and has a salary of $22.2 million. He is a 3-time World Series champion and was the National League MVP in 2012. He is also a 6-time All-Star.

Early life and family

Buster Posey was born on March 27, 1987, in Leesburg, Georgia. His father, Tim Posey, was a minor league baseball player in the Boston Red Sox organization before becoming a high school baseball coach. His mother is Traci Posey. Buster has an older brother named Kyle, who played baseball at Georgia Tech and was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2009 but did not sign.

Posey grew up a fan of the Atlanta Braves and ran track while attending Lee County High School in Georgia. As a senior, he helped his team win the state championship with a .419 batting average and 10 home runs. He also played quarterback for the football team and was voted “Best All-Around Athlete” by his classmates.

Education

Buster Posey was born on March 27, 1987, in Leesburg, Georgia. He played baseball and football at Lee County High School in his hometown, where he was an All-American in both sports. After high school, Posey accepted a scholarship to play baseball at Florida State University. As a freshman, he helped the Seminoles win the College World Series.

Professional career

In 2008, the San Francisco Giants drafted Posey with the fifth overall pick in the first round of the Major League Baseball (MLB) draft. Posey was brought up to the Giants’ Major League roster on September 11, 2009, where he made his MLB debut against the Chicago Cubs. In 2010, he was nominated for the National League (NL) Rookie of the Year Award, and finished second in balloting behind Atlanta Braves right fielder Jason Heyward. A superb defensive catcher, in 2010 Posey became one of only four catchers in MLB history to have at least 50% more assists than passed balls (12 vs 7). He won a Gold Glove Award in 2016. That season, he threw out 41% of runners attempting to steal second base—tops among all major league catchers with at least 75 games caught—and only 13 of 72 (18%) were successful when he was not catching.

Posey batted .288 with 18 home runs and 67 RBIs during his rookie year. He finished fourth in voting for NL Rookie of the Year. For his performance during his first two seasons with a .305 batting average, 13 home runs and 63 RBIs combined over 108 games caught, he won the Silver Slugger Award at catcher become just the fifth rookie in MLB history to win that award.

During Posey’s rookie season – one in which he came up late – he played 28 games at first base, 23 games as catcher, and one game each at third base and as designated hitter; he did not play an inning in left field or right field that season. In his first full season as a starting catcher however – 2011 – he caught 133 games behind the plate, appearing in two games each as a first baseman and as a designated hitter but never playing an inning elsewhere on defense. In 2012 – again appearing almost exclusively as a catcher – Posey played 122 games behind the plate with three appearances each as a first baseman and designated hitter but didn’t play any other positions; he did not make an error that season defensively. 2013 was Posey’s best all-around statistical year to date: appearing 144 times as catcher with seven starts each at first base and designated hitter but no appearances anywhere else on defense. He set career highs that season with a batting average of .294 along with 24 home runs (also topping 20 home runs for the second straight year), 103 RBIs and 177 hits while finishing fourth place again for NL MVP voting; his production dipped somewhat slightly statistically speaking over the next two seasons but rebounded nicely in 2016 when hit career highs once again by slugging .535 along with 95 RBIs along with an OPS+ of 143 while winning NL Comeback Player of Their Year Award following an injury-plagued 2015 campaign where only played 105 regular-season games due largely to lingering effects from being hit by a pitch during Spring training which broke his left thumb; his hitting improved even moreso over what had already been considered spectacular previous seasons offensively speaking when evaluated by some modern baseball metrics such as wRC+ which sees him currently ranked among baseball’s all-time great hitting catchers defensively speaking according to contemporary defensive metrics such as Defensive Runs Saved Above Average which has him currently ranked sixth among all major league baseball catchers who have played at least 1,000 innings defensively since that metric began being tracked by sabermetrician Bill James beginning with the 2002 baseball seasonposey has also consistently ranked highly among all major league baseball players regardless of position according to WAR (Wins Above Replacement); Baseball-Reference calculated that since becoming a full-time starting catcher in 2011 through 2019 that only Angels center fielder Mike Trout has been more valuable to his team than Posey has been during that time frame per WAR.

Salary

In baseball, Posey has signed two long-term contracts with the Giants. He first agreed to an eight-year, $159 million extension in 2013 that covered the 2014-21 seasons. The average annual value of $19.875 million was the highest ever for a catcher at the time, topping the $13 million annual salaries of Yadier Molina and Joe Mauer. Posey’s contract included a club option for 2022 that vested based on his performance in 2021, and if exercised, would have paid him an additional $22 million in salary. However, the Giants declined their 2022 option on Posey in October 2020, making him a free agent.

Clayton Kershaw

Clayton Kershaw is a professional baseball pitcher who plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball, and has won three National League (NL) Cy Young Awards, and the NL Most Valuable Player Award in 2014. In 2019, he signed a contract extension with the Dodgers worth $93 million.

Early life and family

Clayton Edward Kershaw was born in Dallas, Texas, on March 19, 1988, the son of Marianne and Christopher George Kershaw. He has a younger brother named Casey, who is also a professional baseball pitcher. Kershaw was raised in Highland Park, Texas, where he played baseball and basketball for his high school team.[1] Kershaw intended to play college baseball for Texas A&M University.

In 2006, Kershaw was selected seventh overall in the Major League Baseball draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He signed a contract with the team that included a $2.3 million signing bonus.[2][3]

Education

Clayton Kershaw was born in Dallas, Texas, on March 19, 1988. He was drafted out of high school by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first round of the 2006 MLB draft. He began his professional career in the Dodgers’ farm system in 2007.

Kershaw made his MLB debut with the Dodgers in 2008 and won the National League Rookie of the Year Award that year. He won his first NL Cy Young Award in 2011 and became the first pitcher to win back-to-back Cy Young Awards since Roger Clemens did so in 1997–98. Kershaw has also been a three-time NL pitcher of the month and a four-time NL player of the week.

During his career, Kershaw has pitched two no-hitters and has struck out more batters than any other Dodger pitcher since 1900. He has also led MLB in earned run average (ERA) four times and strikeouts three times. In 2014, he became just the sixth pitcher ever to record 300 strikeouts in a season, joining Sandy Koufax, Curt Schilling, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson and Nolan Ryan as members of that select group.

Professional career

Clayton Kershaw was drafted seventh overall in the 2006 MLB draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He signed a Major League contract with the Dodgers and received a $2.3 million signing bonus to forgo his college commitment to Texas A&M.

Kershaw began his professional career with the Class-A Great Lakes Loons in 2007. In his first season, he pitched 62 innings, posting a 2.77 ERA and striking out 51 batters. He was promoted to Class-A Rancho Cucamonga during the 2008 season, where he became friends with teammate Jamie Romak. In 2009, he started the season with Rancho Cucamonga, but was promoted to Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts during the season. In 2010, Kershaw was promoted to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes at the start of the season.

Salary

Kershaw signed a 7-year $215 million contract extension with the Dodgers in 2014, making him the richest pitcher in baseball history. In total, Kershaw has earned more than $250 million in salary over his career. He will make $33 million in 2021, the final year of his contract. Kershaw also has numerous endorsement deals, including an agreement with Adidas worth more than $1 million per year.