10 Highest Paid MLB Players For The 2017 Season

Tossing the ball around with your parents in the backyard can certainly pay off if you are also equally physically gifted with a cannon for an arm. And that very well might have been the case for the 10 highest-paid Major League Baseball players in the upcoming 2017 season.

Of the players in this year’s top 10, seven are starting pitchers and the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs each have two players on the list. The top three remained the same as 2016, but the Tigers two representatives were still in the first 10 and the same amount of starting pitchers also made their way onto the list.

There is a discrepancy when it comes to the American and National Leagues: Only four players hailed from NL teams compared to the AL’s six. Last season it was evenly split at five players per league.

Also, a Los Angeles Dodger held the distinction as the top paid player for the fourth straight season.

Here are the top 10 highest-paid players for the 2017 MLB season, according to salary figures compiled by Spotrac.

1.Clayton Kershaw, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers $35.5 million

The three-time CY Young and one-time MVP winner will be the best-paid player in all of baseball for the third straight season and rightly so. The lefty Kershaw has been by far the most dominant pitcher in the league for years and he figures to remain in the top three through 2018.

2.Zack Greinke, SP, Arizona Diamondbacks $34 million

The former Dodger Greinke, who was previously the highest paid player in 2014 with a $26 million salary, has entered the second year of the six-year, $205 million deal he inked with Arizona after the 2015 season. Coming into his 14th career season, Greinke took some heat for a subpar 2016 season but could bounce back.

3.David Price, SP, Boston Red Sox $30 million

Price was tops in innings pitched (230), hits allowed (227), starts (35) and batters faced (951) last season, and was one year removed from when he led the league with a career-best 2.45 ERA.

4.Jason Heyward, RF, Chicago Cubs $28.1 million

The first member of the defending champions, Heyward will have the two highest-paid seasons of his career this season and in 2018. He could opt-out after 2018 and test the market, but could wind up making more than $162.3 million total if he sticks with the Cubbies.

5. (T) Miguel Cabrera, 1B, Detroit Tigers and Justin Verlander, SP, Detroit Tigers $28 million each

Last season, Cabrera was just ahead of his Tiger teammate Verlander but in 2017 they are tied. A career. 321 hitter, Cabrera’s one of the best hitters the game has ever seen and is usually good for 30-plus home runs and at least 100 RBI a season. Verlander slumped, for him, but roared back last season with a 16-9 record, 3.04 ERA and a marvelous 254 strikeouts.

7.Felix Hernandez, SP, Seattle Mariners $26.8 million

After Kershaw, Hernandez was widely viewed as the strongest force on the mound. But a calf injury slowed him up last year as he posted a 3.82 ERA, the Venezuelan’s highest since 2007.

8.Albert Pujols, DH, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim $26 million

The 16-year veteran and former Cardinal will probably rise on this list as he hasn’t even reached the peak of the 10-year $254 million deal he signed with the Angels in 2011. Yet, the contract hasn’t really worked out. Pujols hasn’t hit better than .285 since 2012, his best mark with the Angels. However, he’s still good for roughly 30 home runs a year.

9. (T) C.C. Sabathia, SP, New York Yankees and Jon Lester, SP, Chicago Cubs

Sabathia’s massive contract will finally come off of New York’s books after the 2017 season and he has the same salary this year as last. But while Sabathia’s waned and dealt with issues on and off the field, Lester has barely hit the halfway point on his deal with the Chicago. He’s sure to rise in 2018 and 2019 when Lester is scheduled to earn $27.5 million.