Highest Paid Players in Major League Baseball: An overview – Part 1
Baseball is no longer the same game it formerly used to be. The game has progressed in the sense that it has become more aggressive, batters are hitting home-runs more often and pitchers are constantly adding variety to their already extensive repertoire
to counter this attacking intent of the batters. Gone are the days when teamwork used to be the basis of every added run.
Players now have to be more clever and hard working, especially given the intense competition in Major League Baseball. Fitness and form have to be gelled together for survival while making it to the top and sustaining it is in itself an achievement to be
relished.
The players who handle the pressure to make it count are rewarded likewise too. The New York Yankees are by far the most popular and the most consistent team in MLB and their strong bull-pen has a major share in this accomplishment. The team has not stayed
back in rewarding its players monetarily and three of the top four highest paid players in MLB being Yankees is a strong evidence of this.
The Philadelphia Phillies have an excellent rotation staff, probably the best in MLB and they have done their part in keeping its morale high by offering lucrative contracts to the top performing pitchers.
Following is a concise report on the highest paid players in Major League Baseball and their achievements that made them worthy of this.
The highest paid player is none other than the legendary Alex Rodriguez. His current salary, at $32-million is the highest ever in the history of baseball. His salary is at least $6-million more than any other player in the Majors and his achievements make
him worthy of this remuneration.
The star batter and third baseman is in his 18th season of professional baseball and apart from his first two seasons where he got to play 17 and 48 games respectively, the least number of home-runs he has hit in a single season are 23. This is
why his career tally of 626 home-runs ranks him at the fifth position in the list of all-time leaders in home-runs.
No current player is even near his home-run count and the count does not seem to end here either. A-Rod has a few more years in him and a lot of monetary incentive to chase the record for most home-runs ever. Each time Rodriguez surpasses a player above
him, he will bag $6-million and an additional $6-million if he manages to cross Barry Bonds’ record of 762 home-runs.
A-Rod’s career has been outstanding. He is renowned for his slugging and his statistics support this proposition. His career slugging percentage of .569 and a career batting average of .302 are among the best in the game. He has near 2000 (1883) RBIs and
a massive 1810 runs in his career. From 1996 to 2008, A-Rod did not have a single season in which he did not score 100 or more runs.
He has hit more than 200 hits three times in his illustrious career. All other seasons, except for the first two, have recorded more than 100 hits for Rodriguez. This year, with 90 hits already against his name, A-Rod is all set for more than 100 hits yet
again.
Continued in Part 2
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