MLB list 47 current players AAV $25M or more

A-Rod with Rangers in '01 was first MLB player to earn $25M/year

Even as fans celebrate the end of winter with major-league teams heading to spring training in Arizona and Florida over the next 10 days, at the same time, within the industry, there seems a lingering undercurrent of player-management discontent. Franchise ownerships and the players’ union look with justifiable trepidation to the next off season and the possibility of a vitriolic work stoppage, stemming from difficult negotiations for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

To put all this unpleasant labour stuff into perspective, consider that it will be 33 years since the great MLB strike of 1994. Now in the crosshairs of baseball disaster, there’s a chance following this upcoming World Series, that negotiations become deadly serious and both sides lose.

It seems despite the game’s current, record-breaking profits for both players and owners, many of the same major issues as in ‘94 could lead to another work stoppage. Begin with no salary cap, divisive arbitration, revenue haves and have-nots among owners and the lessening appeal of free-agency with a lean towards younger, cheaper rosters over veterans who played six full seasons to earn that right.

Thirty-one years ago, emerging from the ’94 strike with the bogus concept of replacement players set to start the ’95 season, with fans in open revolt, and on the eve of Opening Day, the strike was suddenly over. Thank you Judge Sonia Sotomayor. It took baseball the rest of that decade to recover anywhere close to its place in the pro sports firmament. In fact, many fans never forgave. A curse on both their houses.

How did the game recover and thrive? First there was Cal Ripken showing up for work every day, capturing the imaginations of blue-collar America. Then there was the drama of the Mark McGwire/Sammy Sosa home run chase vying for the record of 61 in a season that had stood for 36 years. An underrated peace of the MLB revival was the late-‘90s dominance of the Yankees, using a likeable group of mostly homegrown players under manager Joe Torre that gave fans a sense of familiarity, a team to either love or hate — to care. But by and large, even in 1999, five years after the strike, there remained lingering doubt about the future of the game.

Then came an MLB excIamation point from the Texas Rangers and Alex Rodriguez. I remember covering for The Star at the 2000 Winter Meetings in Dallas. The city was in the middle of a two-day ice storm, weather that should have kept everyone safely indoors at the headquarter hotel. But the Rangers decided to call a press conference at the stadium in Arlington to introduce their free agent prize A-Rod, a player they just signed to a 10-year, $252-million contract. Two hours each way by cab for what should have been a 30-minute ride. But it was a command performance. That became the first player contract in team sports history with an AAV of at least $25M.

In February of 2000, I had stopped in Cincinnati on the way to spring training for the Reds’s press conference with Ken Griffey Jr coming over to the Reds from Seattle. Junior’s deal was a seemingly outrageous nine years, $116M. Nine months later, A-Rod made that seem like chump change. In a column for The Star, I predicted that the Rangers contract with A-Rod would be the last time any team offered that kind of silly money to a player. How wrong can one person be?

A-Rod did not disappoint. During his three seasons in Texas. The 25-year-old led the league in homers three times with the Rangers and was named AL MVP in 2003. But Texas had three losing seasons and had not benefitted from a significant bump in home attendance. So they dealt their superstar to the Yankees for OF Alfonso Soriano, eating $67M of the remaining seven years on the contract.

It took six seasons after the strike in ’94 for MLB to regain its lost swagger. Fast forward to today’s financial reality. Heading into negotiations for a new CBA in 2027, most teams are making huge profits using new revenue streams that were not even imaginable in 2000. There is currently an amazing total of 47 players working under terms of contracts that have an AAV north of $25M. Twenty-five years ago there was one.

Now, with players never doing as well financially and with owners raking in mountains of dough limited only by their imaginations, technology, sports gambling and an obvious change in the way fans watch games, why should there be this Sword of Damocles possibility of a devastating work stoppage hanging over MLB’s head? It took seven years for the fans to jump back on board the last time. This time, longer?

Following is a list of the 47 current MLB players working under contracts with an, Average Annual Value of $25.0 million or more. Listed in order, the dollar amounts on this list show original AAV, plus the years and actual dollars that remain after this year, starting in ‘27. We ignore accepted accounting procedures and creative filings used to lower the amount being listed, towards the luxury tax. For these purposes, this chart has identified future dollar commitments from teams including signing bonuses that have yet been unpaid, plus deferred money listed at face value.

PLAYER … TEAM … AAV … YRS/$$ REMAINING (post-‘26)

RHP/DH Shohei Ohtani … Dodgers … $70M … 7yrs/694M

OF Kyle Tucker … Dodgers … $60M … 3yrs/185M

OF Juan Soto … Mets … $51M … 13yrs/597.5M

3B Bo Bichette … Mets … $42M … 2yrs/84M

RHP Zack Wheeler … Phils … $42M … 1yr/42M

OF Aaron Judge … Yanks … $40M … 5yrs/200M

RHP Jacob deGrom … Rangers … $37M … 1yr/37M

LHP Blake Snell … Dodgers … $36.4M … 3yrs/78M

RHP Gerrit Cole … Yanks … $36M … 2yrs/72M

1B Vlad Guerrero Jr … Jays … $35.7M … 13yrs/463M

OF Mike Trout … Angels … $35.5M … 4yrs/141.8M

3B Alex Bregman … Cubs … $35M … 4yrs/155M

RHP Corbin Burnes … D’backs … $35M … 4yrs/140M

RET Anthony Rendon … Angels … $35M … 0/0

SS Francisco Lindor … Mets … $34.1M … 5yrs/210M

IF Carlos Correa … Astros … $33.3M … 2yrs/60.5M

OF-1B Cody Bellinger … Yanks … $32.5M … 5yrs/162.5M

SS Corey Seager … Rangers … $32.5M … 5yrs/155M

3B Nolan Arenado … D’backs … $32.5M … 0/0

3B Manny Machado … Padres … $31.8M … 7yrs/280M

1B Rafael Devers … Giants … $31.4M … 7yrs/211M

1B Pete Alonso … O’s … $31M … 4yrs/124M

SS Mookie Betts … Dodgers … $30.4M … 6yrs/200M

RHP Dylan Cease … Jays … $30M … 6yrs/165M

DH Kyle Schwarber … Phils … $30M … 4yrs/120M

DH Giancarlo Stanton … Yanks … $29.5M … 1yr/35M

LHP Garrett Crochet … Red Sox … $28.3M … 5yrs/142M

SS Trea Turner … Phils … $27.3M … 7yrs/190.2M

LHP Max Fried … Yanks … $27.3M … 6yrs/174M

RHP Tyler Glasnow … Dodgers … $27.3M … 1yr/30M

RHP Yoshi Yamamoto … Dodgers … $27.1M … 9yrs/248M

1B Freddie Freeman … Dodgers … $27M … 1yr/72M

LHP Carlos Rodon … Yanks … $27M … 2yrs/54M

SS Bobby Witt Jr … Royals … $26.5M … 8yrs/259M

SS Willy Adames … Giants … $26M … 5yrs/140M

LHP Ranger Suarez … Red Sox … $26M … 4yrs/120M

DH Kris Bryant … Rockies … $26M … 2yrs/52M

1B Bryce Harper … Phils … $25.7M … 5yrs/118M

IF Xander Bogaerts … Padres … $25.4M … 7yrs/175M

SS Dansby Swanson … Cubs … $25.3M … 3yrs/78M

3B Matt Chapman … Giants … $25.2M … 4yrs/100M

RHP Sonny Gray … Red Sox … $25M … 2yrs/85M

RHP Michael King … Padres … $25M … 2yrs/66M

2B/LF Jose Altuve … Astros … $25M … 3yrs/50M

2B Marcus Semien … Mets … $25M … 2yrs/46M

RHP Nate Eovaldi … Rangers … $25M … 1yr/20M

DH/OF George Springer … Jays … $25M … 0/0