- The 2009 New York Yankees roster is arguably one of the best baseball teams in history.
- Four of the top ten highest paid players are under contract with
the New York Yankees. - Even though they had the highest paid baseball players 2008 that didn’t make them one of the best baseball teams 2008.
- The total salary paid to these ten men will top
$200 million in 2009.
Here at Electro-Mech, we not only produce electronic baseball scoreboards but we provide all you need to need to know about the latest baseball news. Check out our other articles full of baseball history, facts and scandals. For now, try not to be jealous of how much these guys are making!
1. Alex Rodriquez is nicknamed “A-Rod.” He plays third base for the New York Yankees as of 2009. His previous teams include playing shortstop for the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers. A-Rod is arguably one the best all-round professional baseball players to ever play the game. In 2007, Rodriquez became the youngest player in professional baseball history to record 500 career homeruns. He is a 12-time All-Star, 3-time AL MVP, 10-time AL Silver Slugger, and has won the AL Hank Aaron award 4 times. In 2007, A-Rod signed the richest contract in baseball history when he agreed to a $275 million contract with the New York Yankees, one of the best baseball teams in history.
2. Derek Jeter is captain of the New York Yankees where he has played his entire career. The 9-time “All-Star” shortstop has been awarded the 1995 AL Rookie of the Year, the Silver Slugger, and three Gold Gloves. In his final year, Jeter beat out players from the best high school baseball teams in the U.S. to win the 1992 Player of the Year. He signed a 10-year contract extension in 2001 for $189 million.
3. Mark Teixeira ranks third on the list of highest paid baseball players 2008. While he normally plays first base, he has been placed at third base and the outfield at times. A 2005 All-Star, Teixeira has won two Gold Glove awards and a Silver Slugger award. He signed a $180 million, 8-year contract with the Yankees in 2008.
4. CC Sabathia became fourth on the list of the 10 highest paid baseball players when he inked a deal with the Yankees for $161 million over 7 years. This contract made him the highest paid pitcher in MLB history. Sabathia played seven seasons with the Cleveland Indians where he won the prestigious 2007 AL Cy Young Award.
5. Manny Ramirez is a 9-time Silver Slugger for the Los Angeles Dodgers, one of the best baseball teams 2008. Having hit over 500 home runs, he trails only the great Lou Gehrig for the most career grand slams. The 12-time All-Star signed an 8-year, $160 million contract in 2000 with options through 2010 of $20 million per year.
6. Todd Helton is a 5-time All-Star first baseman for the Colorado Rockies where he signed a $141.5 million, 9-year contract in 2001. In 2007, Helton became the first player in MLB history to hit at least 35 doubles in 10 consecutive years.
7. Miguel Cabrera is a 4-time All-Star with the Detroit Tigers and is putting up Hank Aaron-like offensive stats. He has played first and third base as well as left and right fields having 100 starts at each position. His 2008 extension with Tigers gave him an 8-year, $153.3 million contract. From 2009 through 2015, he will earn $19 million per season.
8. Johan Santana is a left-handed starting pitcher for the New York Mets. The two-time Cy Young Award winner inked a $137.5 million, 6-year contract in 2008.
9. Alfonso Soriano is a lead-off hitter and outfielder with the Chicago Cubs. He set a record for receiving the highest salary arbitration award at $10 million in 2006. His 8-year, $136 million contract is the highest in Chicago Cubs history.
10. Vernon Wells is a talented defensive outfielder with the Toronto Blue Jays where he has been awarded three Gold Glove Awards. Wells rounds out the top 10 highest paid baseball players due to his 7-year, $126 million contract extension in 2008.
A-Rod is overrated in my opinion and really doesn’t deserve the money he’s being paid. Come to think of it, no one should be getting this much money for playing a game they love.
you have no business disputing how high a-rod is paid. unless you can prove that you play better baseball than him.
Sure we can dispute a-rods salary, it’s called being a fan and free will!!!
It is our business. Fans pay these overpriced egomaniacs.
Oh, and BTW, that would be A-Rod striking out THREE TIMES in game one, as the most expensive team in the world choked game one IN THEIR HOUSE.
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa….
………….and now he and his team are world champions!!!
…..another hater!
You don’t hear much about Jeter anymore yet he made this list. He’s a great ball player all around and deserves the money he’s making. Baseball is a hard sport to play.
The names on this list are pretty impressive, but it should not surprise anyone that they are making this kind of money. These guys play hard and get hurt. More power to them for doing what they love.
It always surprises me that so many owners will agree to such long-term contracts! Make me a General Manager for a couple of years and let me play Billy Ball! I think I win with less $$$$$$!
A-rod is no surprise he’s the highest paid baseball player. After his 2007 career with i think 53 home runs he deserves it.
A-Rod is a cheater and he has to use steroids!!!!!!!!! so ya he hit 53 but who is to say he wasnt on them then!!!!!
It seems to me that Derek Jeter should be lower on the list than he is. Sure, the total is more than the other guys, but by yearly salary he is only number seven on the list (if I counted correctly).
A. Rod made 33mil this year alone who is making more than that?
Seeing V.wells up there breaks my tiny Canadian heart
That guy is the biggest underachiver ever.
VERNON WELLS DOES NOT DESERVE THE MONEY HE IS MAKING!!
its upset that some one like him is on this list and
someone like ALBERT PUJOLS isnt .
JP RICCARDI sohuld be fired as the jays GM !!
No problem at all with guys who play 162 televised games a year getting a big big paycheck. HUGE problem with one unmentionably unsportsmanlike team outspending everybody else into the ground. Baseball needs a hard spending cap and every other sport has examples to show ’em how to do it (or not do it).
have you ever had a job? 162 televised games deserves that much money? i would play 365 televised games a year for 1/4 of that money. why should people who get to do what they love for a living be making 100 times the amount of money that people are making doing a job they hate?
To think anyone deserves the money thing guys are making is highway robbery. No wonder tickets cost so much.
This is Ridiculous A-Roid is a cheater and sucked and til he cheated and took steroids while playing for the Rangers and thats why he is so good and theYankees dont even trade they just buy their firggin players
hater!
I think that A-Rod is waaaay over paid!!!!! last year he made more money than the entire Minnesota twins infeild. It is friken redonkeless!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i will be rich one day
Ball Players make the $$$$ because the people go to games, buy the sport parraphanilias, etc. When the money stops coming in, the salaries will go down. Just ask your everyday American worker.
$275 million is a lot of money and maybe Obama will decide that sports players are overpaid and regulate this market as well, and if the “pay czar” gets involved, it’s called class envy. Let the free market place decide whether its sports or business.