Baseball Salary Information

Professional baseball players' salaries have reached monumental proportions. Baseball is an American-born sport, highly popular with millions of fans across the country. Television, baseball memorabilia or goods, ticket sales or stadium earnings all factor into paying the salaries of baseball players. As the number of fans increase, the sport's revenue also increases. Baseball salary statistics indicate that baseball players, especially those in the major leagues, are well off, wealthy or extravagantly wealthy.

  1. Average Baseball Salary

    • According to CBS Sports, the average salary for a major league baseball player, including his pro-rated shares of signing bonuses, is $3,297,828 for the year 2010. The statistics on the CBS Sports website indicate significant and steady increases in annual incomes since 1990. The average salary that year was $578,930. The percentage increase in salary from 1990 to 2010 is a mind-blowing 470 percent.

    Top Payrolls in 2010

    • According to ESPN, in 2010 the teams with the five highest payrolls were: New York Yankees ($206,333,389), Boston Red Sox ($162,747,333), Chicago Cubs ($146,859,000), Philadelphia Phillies ($141,927,381), and New York Mets ($132,701,445). The total sum of these payrolls---rounded to the nearest 100 million--is $800 million. According to The New York Times, countries worldwide funded the same amount of money to Haiti when an earthquake devastated the country on January 12, 2010. The funded money--$800 million--was used to rebuild the nation.

    Top 3 HIghest-Paid Baseball Players in 2010

    • According to Sports Pundit, the top three highest paid players in 2010 are from the New York Yankees: Alex Rodriguez earns $33 million, CC Sabathia earns $24.3 million and Derek Jeter makes $22.6 million. Each player's annual salary is about seven to 10 times the average 2010 baseball salary, which is about $3.3 million.

    Market Value of a Player

    • How well a baseball player performs and his public appeal determine his market value. A high-performing, charismatic player draws public attention; therefore, he sells more tickets, receives broad media coverage, and increases the chances of winning money. The team factors in the projected revenue it would make with the player, which decides his pay. The highest paid player, Alex Rodriguez, earns an astronomical income because of his star power--drawing huge public and media attention--and his outstanding athletic prowess.

    Salary Arbitration

    • Dissension about pay between the team and player is negotiated through salary arbitration; however, a player must meet certain criteria before the process. According to the Major League Baseball Players Association, a player must have at least two years of experience--but usually three--and less than six. A player with two years' experience must rank in the top 17 percent of class players, completing 86 days of service during the previous season. Most disputes are resolved before arbitration, and if there is one, the arbitrator may decide to either issue the team amount or the player amount.