Who is the highest paid MLB player? Contracts in Major League Baseball, like every other professional sport, are rapidly increasing. A title that once belonged to Gerrit Cole is now owned by Shohei Ohtani, who became the highest-paid MLB player ever this offseason.
Here’s everything you need to know about the highest paid MLB players in 2024, the highest MLB salaries by position and currently projected MLB team payrolls in 2024.
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Shohei Ohtani is the highest-paid player in MLB. After winning his second American League MVP award, Ohtani hit the open market as the most coveted free agent in MLB history. Even with teams recognizing he can’t take the mound in 2024 and understanding there’s risks of him never pitching as a starter again, Ohtani was still made the highest-paid MLB player ever. He’ll serve as a designated hitter for the 2024 season and could return to his status as a two-way player in 2025. At 29 years old, this will likely be the last contract of his major-league career.
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On Dec. 9, 2023, Ohtani became the highest-paid MLB player ever by signing a 10-year contract worth $700 million. The $70 million average annual salary is unprecedented. For context, Ohtani’s annual average salary is the equivalent of the combined contracts of Aaron Judge and Mookie Betts. It also pushes the Dodgers to the highest MLB payroll in 2024.
Less than two years after becoming the highest-paid MLB player ever, Max Scherzer was traded to the Texas Rangers midway through the 2023 season. Once having aspirations to win a championship with the New York Mets, Scherzer instead hoised the World Series trophy with the Texas Rangers. Scherzer, who turns 40 next July, might try and pursue one last payday in free agency next winter if he decides he wants to play into his 40s.
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The New York Mets are responsible for handing out contracts to the two highest-paid pitchers in MLB history. Fittingly, neither Scherzer nor Justin Verlander are still on the Mets’ roster. Dealt to the Houston Astros at the 2023 MLB trade deadline, Verlander’s contract holds a $35 million vesting option for the 2025 season. If he stays healthy and reaches the 140-inning threshold, Verlander can earn more than $400 million throughout his Hall of Fame career.
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The Philadelphia Phillies kept Aaron Nola from leaving them in free agency during the 2023-’24 offseason. Wanting to avoid losing ace Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia didn’t even give him a chance to test the open market. On March 4, Wheeler signed a three-year contract extension worth $126 million. He will finish out his previous five-year, $118 million contract which will pay him a $23.5 million salary in 2025. Beginning in 2025, the right-handed pitcher will be one of the highest-paid MLB players ever with a $42 million salary. Wheeler is now the highest-paid player in Phillies history, beating Bryce Harper’s contract ($25.284 million AAV).
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During the 2022 MLB Winter Meetings, the New York Yankees made Aaron Judge the highest-paid MLB hitter ever at the time. There was certainly risk in signing a 30-year-old outfielder to a nine-year contract, but the Yankees’ captain earned the deal. Of course, there are risks. Judge missed significant time during the 2023 season with a toe injury. With Juan Soto’s arrival, Judge shifts back to center field and the position switch could be even more taxing on his durability.
The Texas Rangers signed Jacob deGrom to a five-year, $185 million contract in December 2022, making him one of the highest-paid MLB players ever. By June 6, 2023, deGrom was on the season-ending injured list and on the road back from Tommy John surgery. Already 35 years old and turning 36 next season, deGrom faces an uphill battle just to return to the mound. While Verlander is a success story of a pitcher in his late 30s thriving after TJS, deGrom’s contract hasn’t worked out for Texas to this point.
Here are the highest MLB payrolls in 2024, per FanGraphs.com. Current MLB payroll projections include forecasted arbitration salaries. We’ll provide updates following each marquee offseason signing and in-season blockbuster trade.
The New York Mets have the highest MLB payroll in 2204 at $316 million. The Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers ($304 million) are the only two MLB teams with a $300 million payroll.
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The Oakland Athletics have the lowest MLB payroll in 2024 at $61 million, which is $24 million less than the team with the second-lowest payroll (Pittsburgh Pirates).
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The breakdown of the highest paid players in MLB by position is based on 2024 salaries.
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The average MLB salary in 2023 is $4.9 million, according to Richard Blum of the Associated Press. It represents an 11.1 percent increase from last season and sets a new record for the highest-average salary in MLB history. With revenues increasing each season, salaries are expected to keep rising in the years to come.
The average MLB salary in 2022 was $4.2 million, per Front Office Sports. It marks a 14.8% increase from the average salaries for MLB players compared to the 2021 season. More importantly, it’s the first time in four years that the average MLB salary increased.
A huge part of that is rising MLB salaries across the board, thanks to league revenue skyrocketing. It’s not just the top players cashing in, though, veterans and the proverbial journeymen are landing multi-year deals with more money.
The minimum salary for an MLB player in 2023 is $720,000 if they are on the active roster or injured list for one of the 30 major league teams. It comes after years of the MLB Players Association pushing for the league’s minimum salary to be increased, pushing closer to the NFL and NBA.
The New York Yankees have the highest MLB payroll in 2024.
Minor league baseball players officially joined the MLBPA in 2023, gaining bargaining power and additional rights like their peers in the majors. Thanks to the partnership, MiLB salaries spiked dramatically in 2023.
Coming off a World Series title and an All-MLB First Team selection with the Washington Nationals, Anthony Rendon hit the market at the perfect time. The Angels, responsible for paying two of the highest-paid MLB players, struck a deal with the All-Star third baseman. Rendon’s contract extends through 2026, his age-36 season, and includes a no-trade clause.
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Rendon is the second highest-paid hitter in MLB right now, earning slightly more than teammate Mike Trout. Unfortunately for Los Angeles, Rendon only played in 47 games last season and has played in a combined 157 games since he signed with the Angels.
Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout hasn’t appeared in the MLB playoffs since 2014, his only postseason experience. While the franchise’s baseball moves always provide reasoning for him to leave, the three-time AL MVP and one of the best players in MLB history couldn’t pass on a historic contract. Signed to a 12-year deal worth $425 million signed one of the biggest contracts in sports history, Every single dollar of the $426.5 million is guaranteed and the deal doesn’t expire until 2031. Not bad for a player selected with the 25th pick in the 2009 MLB Draft.
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When the Yankees signed Cole to a nine-year deal worth $324 million in December 2019, it marked the biggest contract ever signed by a pitcher. Furthermore, Cole’s $36 million salary surpassed Trout’s AAV. An All-MLB First Team selection in 2019 and 2021, Cole’s deal includes a full no-trade clause and includes a player option after 2024.
If he exercises the opt-out – $144 million over four seasons – the Yankees can extend a counter-proposal to include a $36 million salary in 2029, Cole’s age-38 season, which would bring the total value of the contract to $360 million. In 2023, Cole won the AL Cy Young Award for the first time in his career.
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Carlos Correa initially became one of the highest-paid players in MLB for the 2023 season when he inked a 13-year, $350 million deal with the San Francisco Giants for an average annual salary of $26.92 million.
That deal fell through immediately ahead of the press conference to make it official when Correa failed his physical. There was a difference of opinion between the Giants’ front office and Correa’s camp, led by Scott Boras.
Correa then turned around and inked a 12-year, $315 million deal with the free-spending Mets. Soon after, New York’s doctors came away with the same concerns as the Giants’ medical staff. The deal never went through, allowing Correa to return to Minnesota on a six-year contract worth $200 million and the deal is now official.
After signing a 10-year, $300 million contract with the San Diego Padres in February 2019, All-Star third baseman Manny Machado landed a new contract on Feb. 26, 2023. Machado held a player opt-out following the 2023 season that would’ve allowed him to become one of the top free agents next winter. Instead, he worked out an extension with San Diego.
As first reported by Jeff Passan, Machado signed an 11-year contract extension worth $350 million. Turning 31 years old in July, the new contract will take Machado into his 40s and allow him to finish his career in San Diego.
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Machado’s contract includes a full no-trade clause, providing him with complete control over his future. Furthermore, there are no opt-outs in the 11-year deal meaning he will likely finish his career with the Padres.
Boston finally did it. The team locked up one of its young stars after losing the likes of Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts over the past few seasons. Devers was slated to hit free agency following the 2023 season. After agreeing to avoid arbitration, he inked the largest contract in franchise history and is now the highest-paid third baseman in MLB history. Good for him.
While Trea Turner isn’t one of the highest paid players in MLB in terms of salary, he signed one of the largest contracts in MLB history. The All-Star shortstop became just the 10th player to sign a $300 million contract, a list that includes one of his teammates. Similar to the Bryce Harper contract ($330 million), the Philadelphia Phillies added years to Turner’s deal to lower the base salary.
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Edwin Díaz is the highest-paid closer in MLB history, signed to a five-year contract worth $102 million. Diaz will make $20.4 million per year. He also signed the largest contract ever for a closer, becoming the first reliever to receive a $100 million contract.
It should come as no surprise that Alex Rodriguez is atop the list for MLB career earnings. According to Spotrac, the baseball legend earned $455.159 million across his entire career. Incredibly, even after stepping away after the 2016 season, he still earned an additional $39 million from the Yankees and Rangers through 2020.
After signing a one-year, $2.5 million contract to finish his Hall of Fame career with the St. Louis Cardinals, Albert Pujols gains even more separation from Miguel Cabrera for the active record of the highest paid MLB player ever.
However, Cabrera will pass him in 2023 because he is still under contract for a $32 million salary in each of the next two seasons. By the end of his MLB career, Cabrera will have earned nearly $400 million in total salary.
The club option can either be for eight years or 10 years on top of the base value of the contract with the figures on a range determined on yearly MVP results. If Rodriguez doesn’t live up to his potential, it can be as low as the $200 million range. However, the All-Star outfielder becoming a perennial MVP candidate would push it toward $350 million and he would be guaranteed $320 million total if the option is exercised.
If Seattle fails to exercise the option after 2027, Rodriguez holds a player option after the eighth season for a five-year and $90 million add-on. If he takes that route, it will put into effect the 13-year, $210 million deal that was first reported.
Rodriguez won’t be one of the highest paid players in MLB in 2023 or 2024. However, the maximum value of the contract will allow him to become one of the highest paid MLB players ever if he lives up to his potential.
The Los Angeles Angels made history with the Shohei Ohtani contract. Before he came arbitration-eligible for the final time, Los Angeles signed their two-way sensation to the largest arbitration contract ever and the largest year-to-year salary increase in MLB history. After making $5.5 million in 2022, Ohtani will receive $30 million fully guaranteed during the 2023 MLB season.
It will be the final season of his contract before he becomes the No. 1 MLB free agent in 2024. Once he hits the open market, expect Ohtani to become the highest paid MLB player ever. At a minimum, he will likely pull in an AAV of $50 million per season. He is one of the best pitchers in baseball and a threat to hit 35-plus home runs with a .900-plus OPS. Combine that with his marketability and there will be multiple teams willing to offer a multi-year contract worth at least $50 million per season.
Speaking of stars set to join the ranks of the highest paid MLB players in the coming years, look no further than Shohei Ohtani. The two-way phenom will be the top MLB free agent in 2024 and is expected to receive offers worth at least $50 million per season, giving him the chance to sign the first $500 million contract.
As for Juan Soto, joining a playoff contender like the San Diego Padres probably isn’t enough to keep him out of MLB free agency in 2025. He’ll only be 26 years old and his production through his first four seasons puts him in historic company. Barring a career-altering injury or unexpected regression, Soto will sign the first $500 million contract to become one of the highest paid players in MLB.