Alex Rodriguez, Highest Paid Player in Baseball History (Getty)
New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is the top earner in MLB history. Derek Jeter and Manny Ramirez are the other $200 million dollar men.
Nine of the top 20 money-makers played at one time for the Yankees.
How about the unassuming 600-homer man Jim Thome making the list. And the face of the Colorado Rockies, Todd Helton. And there is the three-headed Atlanta Braves pitching monster: Maddux, Smoltz and Glavine.
But Randy Johnson is the highest-paid pitcher of all time.
Funny thing to notice, too, about money and steroids…four of the top six earners have been implicated in the scandal. But then there is a drop off, only two of the remaining 14 are suspect.
Thanks to baseball-reference.com for this one.
| 1. | Alex Rodriguez | $264,416,252 |
| 2. | Derek Jeter | $205,430,000 |
| 3. | Manny Ramirez | $204,807,769 |
| 4. | Barry Bonds | $188,245,322 |
| 5. | Randy Johnson | $175,550,019 |
| 6. | Gary Sheffield | $168,008,550 |
| 7. | Greg Maddux | $153,845,000 |
| 8. | Ken Griffey | $151,703,682 |
| 9. | Roger Clemens | $150,601,000 |
| 10. | Carlos Delgado | $146,299,000 |
| 11. | Pedro Martinez | $146,259,585 |
| 12. | Mike Mussina | $144,533,619 |
| 13. | Chipper Jones | $141,552,133 |
| 14. | Jim Thome | $138,461,667 |
| 15. | John Smoltz | $135,657,946 |
| 16. | Todd Helton | $131,315,000 |
| 17. | Kevin Brown | $130,890,502 |
| 18. | Jason Giambi | $130,808,996 |
| 19. | Tom Glavine | $129,639,293 |
| 20. | Mariano Rivera | $129,530,125 |
