Top

Baseball Average Salary

April 6, 2012 by · Comments Off on Baseball Average Salary 

Baseball Average Salary, The rest of baseball is starting to catch up with the big spenders. The Miami Marlins, Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels all had hefty boosts in payroll during the offseason along with the Tampa Bay Rays and Kansas City Royals, according to a study of major league contracts by The Associated Press.

Some traditional high rollers had huge drops, including the New York Mets, Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox.

“Any time everything’s even, it’s always better competition,” Prince Fielder said Thursday before his first game as the Tigers’ new big-money first baseman.

The New York Yankees, of course, remain the cash king and topped $200 million on opening day for the fifth consecutive year. And at $30 million, the Yanks’ Alex Rodriguez remains the richest of the richest, baseball’s highest-paid player for the 12th straight season.

The major league average salary rose 4.1 percent to $3.44 million, the steepest hike since 2008.

Lucrative deals came from unexpected places, with Albert Pujols getting $240 million from Angels owner Arte Moreno and Fielder $214 million from Tigers owner Mike Ilitch.

“Maybe they just have more saved up or something,” Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said before his team opened against the Tigers. “Being here in Detroit, and seeing what Mr. Ilitch is trying to do around this area and for the city of Detroit — I think spending money on his team to make this city feel proud of something is a fabulous, fabulous effort.”

Bottom