In a baseball scoreboards feature, we talk money, and we’re talking really big money! The top 3 highest players in MLB earn in a week what many people earn in a decade. Who are they and how much do they get?

A few decades back sports used to be a profession for athletes who had a great passion for the game they played. They played it even if they did not get much in return, because at the end of the day they were doing what they loved the most. This is the reason why sports just a few decades ago were relatively free of the various, infuriating and embarrassing scandals that plague many proffesional sports now.

So, what has changed between the sports of then and the sports of now? The answer is: the obscene amounts of money that the professional players of each sport are now being paid. The amounts the teams are paying some of their players have dramatically increased not only the egos of the players but also the animosity among other players of the same or similar rank and ability. Here is a list of the top 3 highest paid baseball players in MLB:

Alex Rodriguez – he is the third baseman for the New York Yankees and is by far the highest (not to mention, obscenely high) paid professional player not only in the MLB but in any sport. Alex Rodriguez is, no doubt, an extremely talented player and has been a great asset for the Yankees since they acquired him from the Seattle Mariners, which is why he is more famously known as ARod. The Yankees pay him an astounding, and jaw dropping, amount of $33,000,000 a year (no wonder other players loath and envy him!)

CC Sabathia – The baseball scoreboards show that he is a starting pitcher and another Yankee (youv’e got to wonder where the Yankees make so much money!) He signed a $161 million contract with the Yankees in 2008 and they pay him an annual figure of $24,285,714. Before he joined the Yankees he had a great fan following, but ever since then his fan base has been declining day by day even though he still is as great a player he was before. This highlightes the fact that money can destroy a player’s personality and exponentially increases their egos.

Derek Jeter – there is little need to mention that he is a Yankee as well! 3rd on this list, his fans call him “Captain Clutch” for his outstanding, all time high hits as a Yankee. In 2001, the Yankees signed him for 10 years with a contractual worth of $189 million and an annual wage of $22,600,000. His was on 5 teams, over the decade, which went on to win the World Series.

Considering the individual contributions that each of the above players have made for the team, there is no wonder that the Yankees pay them the big bucks to keep them happy in an era where money seems to be everything for a player and the game as a whole.

For more information on MLB, go to: en.wikipedia.org