Average salaries top $4M for 1st time
NEW YORK -- Even before the first pitch of the 2015 season is thrown, an eye-popping baseball record will be set.
The average salary when Opening Day rosters are finalized Sunday will break the $4 million barrier for the first time, according to a study of all major league contracts by The Associated Press. Dodgers pitcher
Clayton Kershaw tops players at $31 million and Los Angeles projects to open the season with a payroll at about $270 million, easily a record.
"We're enjoying a tremendously bountiful season in baseball," said Toronto pitcher
R.A. Dickey, the 2012 NL Cy Young Award winner with the
New York Mets.
Moneyball
With a $270 million payroll, the Dodgers are the sultans of salary, paying for two of the top four highest-paid players entering the 2015 season.
|
2015 Salary |
Clayton Kershaw (LAD) |
$31M |
Justin Verlander (DET) |
$28M |
Zack Greinke (LAD) |
$27M |
Josh Hamilton (LAA) |
$25.4M |
Fueled by the largest two-year growth in more than a decade, the average salary projects to be about $4.25 million, according to the AP study, with the final figure depending on how many players are put on the disabled list before the first pitch is thrown. That is up from $3.95 million on the first day of last season and $3.65 million when 2013 began.
"MLB's revenues have grown in recent years, with the increase in national and local broadcast rights fees being a primary contributor," said Dan Halem, MLB's chief legal officer. "It is expected that player compensation will increase as club revenues increase."
Baseball's average salary was approximately $50,000 in 1976, the last year before free agency.
Back then, many players took offseason jobs to pay their bills.