MLB Salaries 2022: 10 Highest-Paid Baseball Players, Largest Contracts

Twenty baseball players will make a salary of at least $25 million for the 2022 MLB season. Nine players are due salaries north of $30 million. One star is signed to a contract worth more than $40 million a year for the first time in league history.

Here are the 10 highest-paid players for the 2022 MLB season. Salary figures come from Spotrac.

1) Max Scherzer: $43.33 Million

The New York Mets lured Scherzer to Queens in free agency with the largest salary in MLB history. As part of a three-year, $130 million contract, Scherzer’s average annual value of $43.33 million blows away the previous record of $36 million. The three-time Cy Young winner is still at the top of his game, posting a career-best 2.46 ERA last season with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

2) Corey Seager: $37.5 Million

The Dodgers lost MLB’s two highest-paid players in free agency. Seager left Los Angeles for the Texas Rangers and the third-largest free-agent contract of all time. The 10-year, $325 million deal has an average annual value of $32.5 million. Seager received a $5 million signing bonus for 2022.

T-3) Gerrit Cole: $36 Million

The nine-year, $324 million contract that Cole signed with the New York Yankees before the 2020 season still hasn’t been topped by any pitcher. After finishing second in the 2021 AL Cy Young voting, Cole has been a top-five finisher for the award in four straight seasons.

T-3) Anthony Rendon: $36 Million

It’s been two years since the Los Angeles Angeles inked Rendon to a seven-year, $245 million deal. The contract paid the third baseman less than $30 million in each of the first two seasons, but he’s due to make a $38 million salary from 2023-2026. Injuries limited Rendon to 58 games last season.

5) Mike Trout: $35.45 Million

The Angels have two of the league's five highest-paid players for 2022. No other team even has two players in the top 10. Trout’s 12-year, $426.5 million contract is the largest in MLB history. In 2021, the three-time AL MVP winner finished outside of the top five in voting for the first time since he became an everyday player a decade ago.

6) Carlos Correa: $35.1 Million

Correa’s decision to sign a three-year, $105.3 million contract with the Minnesota Twins in March came as a surprise. The shortstop had been projected to garner offers worth close to $300 million during his final season with the Houston Astros. Correa’s average annual value is the highest for any shortstop ever. The deal allows him to opt out and become a free agent again for the 2023 season.

T-7) Miguel Cabrera: $32 Million

At 39 years old, Cabrera is the one player on this list who is no longer a potential All-Star. Cabrera was coming off back-to-back MVP seasons when the Detroit Tigers gave him an eight-year, $248 million extension in 2014. The veteran hit .256 with 15 home runs last season.

T-7) Trevor Bauer: $32 Million

It’s unknown whether Bauer will pitch for the Dodgers again because of sexual assault accusations made against him in 2021. Bauer is on paid administrative leave until at least April 16, though Los Angeles County determined that he won’t be charged. Bauer has only made 17 starts since signing a three-year, $102 million contract after his 2020 Cy Young season.

9) Manny Machado: $30 Million

Machado is entering his fourth season since signing a 10-year, $300 million contract with the San Diego Padres. The deal has an opt-out clause that can allow Machado to become a free agent after the 2023 season. Machado has an .838 OPS with the Padres.

10) Nolan Arenado: $29.43 Million

Arenado was traded from the Colorado Rockies to the St. Louis Cardinals just two years after he signed an eight-year, $260 million contract. An extra $15 million was added to the deal when the third baseman was traded, and Arenado agreed to defer $50 million through 2041. Arenado hit 34 home runs with 105 RBI in his first season with the Cardinals.