Total earnings
The following chart reveals the Major League Baseball players that have earned the most total salary in their career (through the end of 2004).
$122,463,215 - Barry Bonds
$115,845,000 - Greg Maddux
$115,176,216 - Kevin Brown
$110,501,000 - Ken Griffey, Jr.
$110,295,000 - Randy Johnson
$106,568,000 - Sammy Sosa
$106,010,002 - Gary Sheffield
$103,001,000 - Roger Clemens
$100,405,001 - Mo Vaughn
$100,027,000 - Alex Rodriguez
$ 97,696,764 - Larry Walker
$ 97,376,294 - Albert Belle (retired)
$ 94,694,000 - Pedro Martinez
$ 94,354,573 - Mike Piazza
$ 92,965,045 - Tom Glavine
$ 90,775,000 - Jeff Bagwell
$ 89,242,858 - Bernie Williams
$ 88,095,446 - John Smoltz
$ 86,437,500 - Juan Gonzalez
$ 86,299,000 - Carlos Delgado
$ 86,297,996 - Rafael Palmeiro
$ 86,032,727 - Manny Ramirez
$ 84,465,000 - Barry Larkin
$ 84,392,167 - Mike Mussina
$ 78,860,000 - Matt Williams (retired)
$ 78,014,000 - Frank (Edward) Thomas
$ 77,830,000 - Derek Jeter
$ 76,700,000 - Cal Ripken, Jr. (no data available for 1981-1984)
$ 75,603,815 - Roberto Alomar
$ 74,688,354 - Mark McGwire (retired)
$ 73,510,000 - Ivan Rodriguez
$ 73,068,835 - Shawn Green
$ 70,015,500 - Craig Biggio
$ 68,143,667 - John Olerud
$ 68,342,501 - David Cone (retired)
$ 65,658,000 - Curt Schilling
$ 65,470,000 - Raul Mondesi
$ 64,490,332 - Chipper Jones
$ 62,446,543 - Mike Hampton
$ 61,100,100 - Al Leiter
Annual Salary
The following chart reveals the evolution of the highest paid player in Major League Baseball. A player's yearly salary is considered to be for the maximum value of the contract divided by the term of the contract in years.
YEAR $ALARY/YR PLAYER TEAM/ORGANIZATION
1927 $70,000 Babe Ruth New York Yankees
1930 $80,000 Babe Ruth New York Yankees
1949 $100,000 Ted Williams Boston Red Sox
1966 $130,000 Willie Mays San Francisco Giants
1972 $200,000 Hank Aaron Atlanta Braves
1975 $740,000 Catfish Hunter New York Yankees
Major League Baseball's reserve clause was struck down in 1976, beginning an era of free agency and thus market-value player contracts
1979 $1,000,000 Nolan Ryan Houston Astros
1981 $2,000,000 Dave Winfield New York Yankees
1985 $2,130,300 Mike Schmidt Philadelphia Phillies
1986 $2,800,000 George Foster New York Mets
1990 $3,000,000 Rickey Henderson Oakland Athletics
1991 $4,700,000 Jose Canseco Oakland Athletics
1992 $5,800,000 Bobby Bonilla New York Mets
1993 $5,975,000* Ryne Sandberg Chicago Cubs
1995 $9,237,500 Cecil Fielder Detroit Tigers
1997 $10,000,000 Albert Belle Cleveland Indians
1998 $14,936,667 Gary Sheffield Florida Marlins
2000 $15,714,286 Kevin Brown Los Angeles Dodgers
2001 $22,000,000* Alex Rodriguez Texas Rangers
Ryne Sandberg's 1993 contract was originally for $7,100,000 per year, but he retired before the contract expired and forfeited the back-loaded end of the contract. Alex Rodriguez's 2001 contract was originally for $25,200,000 per year but was later renegotiated to average $22,000,000.
Bibliography
"The Century in Dollars and Cents", Seattle Post-Intelligencer [1] (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/specials/moneyinsports/sportstimeline.pdf)
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