Top Ten Highest Paid MLB Players 2013

With the 2013 baseball season well under way, we examine the top ten highest paid baseball players for the 2013 season. Professional baseball players are among the highest paid athletes in all of sports. Most of the list is made up of perennial All-Stars. Most of the players have also received a MVP or Cy Young Award as well. See who made the list and see who didn’t. Here are the top ten highest paid MLB players this year:

10

Adrian Gonzalez – 1B

Salary: $22,000,000

Los Angeles Dodgers

Adrian Gonzalez, also known as “A-Gon” or “Gonzo” by fans entered the league in 2000 as the first overall draft choice. He was selected as an All-Star on four different occasions. Throughout his career he has played for the Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, and now the Los Angeles Dodgers. Outside the sport, Adrian and his wife Betsy founded The Adrian and Betsy Gonzales Foundation which focuses on empowering underprivileged youth in sports, education, and health.

9

Miguel Cabrera – 3B

Salary: $19,037,500

Detroit Tigers

Miguel Cabrera was fortunate enough to win the World Series his first year in the league in 2003 with the Florida Marlins. After winning it all in 2003 he played with the Marlins for another 3 years and was then traded to the Detroit Tigers where he has played since. Cabrera is a seven time All-Star and was voted the American League MVP in 2012. Cabrera is without argument one of the best hitters in the game. He has posted at least 30 home runs in all eight seasons of his career and holds a career batting average of .320.

8

Tim Lincecum – P

Salary: $20,250,000

San Francisco Giants

Having won the World Series twice in 2010 and 2012, Tim Linecum along with the other amazing players on the San Francisco Giants have proven they are the real deal. Tim has been with the Giants since starting his professional career in 2007. Tim also holds the all-time record for most strikeouts thrown in the first four seasons of a career and has had several seasons of more than 200 strikeouts. When he is hot, he is considered to be one of the toughest pitchers in all of baseball to hit against.

7

CC Sabathia – P

Salary: $24,400,000

New York Yankees

At the time of his contract in 2009, CC Sabathia was the highest-paid pitcher in MLB history. Sabathia spent the first seven years of his career with the Cleveland Indians where he won the 2007 Cy Young Award. In 2008 he played the second half of the season with the Milwaukee Brewers leading them to a  wild card playoff spot, their first in 26 years. After the 2008 season he was picked up by the Yankees where has played ever since. Sabathia is renowned for his endurance. He has averaged over 200 innings pitched per season in his career.

6

Joe Mauer – C

Salary: $23,000,000

Minnesota Twins

Joe Mauer is considered by many to be the best catcher in the game right now. He is the only catcher in MLB history to have won three batting awards. He has also won three consecutive Golden Glove awards, and was voted the 2009 American League MVP. In high school he played football, basketball, and baseball for Saint Paul’s Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders. He was the only athlete in history to be selected as the USA Today High School Player of the year in two sports simultaneously. Mauer ultimately decided to turn down numerous football scholarships to enter the Major League Baseball Draft. A decision he has not regretted.

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5

Pince Fielder – 1B

Salary: $23,777,778

Detroit Tigers

Prince Fielder is a four time All-Star and is an iron man leader for consecutive games played. Fielder made his MLB debut with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2005. He played with them for 6 seasons before signing with the Detroit Tigers. An interesting fact about Fielder is even though he was born right-handed he was taught to bat left-handed by his father Ceil Fielder who also was a professional baseball player and played for the Tigers. He is a fan favorite in Detroit and is a team leader. His most recent accomplishment was winning the baseball annual home run derby last year in 2012.

4

Mark Teixeira – 1B

Salary: $22,500,000

Net York Yankees

Mark Teixeira is nicknamed “Tex.” When younger, Mark Teixeira attended school at Georgia Tech where he won the 2001 Dick Howser Trophy as the national collegiate baseball player of the year. Howser was drafted in 2001 by the Texas Rangers where he played for four seasons. Later he played for the Atlanta Braves for 2 years, Los Angeles Angels for 1 year, and with the Yankees ever since. He has made the MLB All-Star team on 2 occasions and has won the Gold Glove Award on 5 different occasions. In addition to playing 1st base, he has from time to time played 3rd base as well.

3

Johan Santana – P

Salary: $22,916,666

New York Mets

After playing for the Minnesota Twins for 7 seasons he was traded to the New York Mets in in 2008. Throughout his career he has appeared in four all-star games, won the Cy Young Award twice, and was featured as on of the players on the Sports Illustrated’s MLB All-Decade Team. What’s surprising is while growing up Johan Santana wasn’t a pitcher. He grew up playing center field. He was converted to a pitcher only a few years before he started playing professionally.

2

Cliff Lee – P

Salary: $24,000,000

Philadelphia Phillies

Cliff Lee is considered by many to be the best pitcher in the sport today. Lee was drafted in  1997 by the Florida Marlins, but did’t see much playing time. He was then traded to the Cleveland Indians where he played for 7 seasons and then was traded to the Philies. After winning the world series with the Phillies he was again traded to Seattle and Texas, and finally again back to the Philies. His fastball is one of the most fierce ever seen. His four-seam and two-seam pitches regularly reach speeds up to 96 mph.

1

Alex Rodriguez – 3B

Salary: $29,000,000

New York Yankees

Alex Rodriguez is currently the highest paid player in all of professional baseball. He is known by his nickname A-Rod. Before joining the Yankees in 2004 he played for the Texas Rangers and the Seattle Mariners. He is considered by many to be one of the best players of all time. He is the youngest player in the history of the sport to hit 500 runs in his careers breaking a record originally set by Jimmie Foxx in 1939 and was also the youngest player ever to hit 600 beating Babe Ruth’s record by a year. The total value of A-Rod’s current contract is $275 million, breaking the record for the largest contract ever in baseball history.