The most expensive contracts in Major League Baseball – Part 1
Sometimes franchises tend to overdo the amount they pay their players. Let’s take a look at the 20 players in Major League Baseball who earn more than 100-million-dollars for hitting the ball and running around the diamond.
Number 20
Derek Jeter signed a whopping 189-million-dollar contract with the New York Yankees for 10 years. After the contract expired the 36-year-old settled for a three-year deal worth 51-million-dollars. Jeter’s performance over the past few years for the Yankees
has proved that he is worth every penny. He is one of the most liked players on the Yankees squad and definitely the biggest crowd puller with his tremendous skill and competitive spirit that he brings to the field.
Number 19
100-million-dollars is quite a big sum of money and throughout Major League Baseball’s history there have been many ridiculously expensive deals which have back fired in which all the money goes to waste. However in the case of Albert Pujols, 100-million-dollars
is probably the best investment the St. Louis Cardinals have ever made.
When he signed on for a 10 year contract which would pay him 100-million-dollars, his career graph and that of the Cardinals definitely went up. He managed to win three prestigious National League Most Valued Player (NL MVP) awards in 2005, 2008 and in 2009.
Pujols managed to take the Cardinals to the World Series three times as the team managed to win the coveted title in 2006 and recently in 2011.
Number 18
Carlos Lee is probably not as well known as the some of the other players in this exclusive list. Lee was a free-agent in 2006 and the Houston Astros grabbed the opportunity and signed him on board with a 100-million-dollar contract for six years. Since
signing the contract Lee has not set any new records for himself, but he has been regular with his performance for the Astros. He has managed to be above-average on the field at all times, if not spectacular.
Number 17
Carlos Beltran was an All Star outfielder when the New York Mets decided to sign him on for duration of seven years which would pay him 119-million-dollars. He was cursed with injuries the following season where he hardly managed to hit. When he returned
to health he managed bring back his A-game and set a franchise record of 41 hits the next season. Beltran is definitely worth the money he has been paid when he is healthy, but that does not seem to happen too often with him succumbing to one injury after
another. Let’s hope he gets health enough to repeat his post season heroics.
Number 16
Everyone wanted a piece of Cliff Lee this year, the New York Yankees, the Texas Rangers and the Philadelphia Phillies. In a shocking move he chose to go with the Phillies, leaving behind the Yankees in his wake with their mouths hanging open because they
had agreed to pay him 20-million-dollars more than the Phillies. He signed a contract worth 120-million-dollars for five years with the Phillies, for whom he has played before. Lee is one of the best pitchers in MLB history so it’s no wonder every team wants
a piece of him.
Continued in Part 2
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