List of highest paid baseball players

 
 1927       $70,000 - Babe Ruth (unconfirmed)
 1930       $80,000 - Babe Ruth (unconfirmed)
 1949      $100,000 - Ted Williams (unconfirmed)
 1961 -     $75,000 - Mickey Mantle (unconfirmed)
 1966 -    $130,000 - Willie Mays (unconfirmed)
 1972      $200,000 - Hank Aaron (unconfirmed)
 1979 -             - Pete Rose (unconfirmed)
 1981 -  $2,000,000 - Dave Winfield (unconfirmed)
 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 1985 -  $2,130,300 - Mike Schmidt[?]
 1986 -  $2,800,000 - George Foster[?]
 1987 -  $2,127,333 - Mike Schmidt[?]
 1988 -  $2,340,000 - Ozzie Smith
 1989 -  $2,766,667 - Orel Hershiser[?], Frank Viola[?]
 1990 -  $3,200,000 - Robin Yount[?]
 1991 -  $3,800,000 - Darryl Strawberry
 1992 -  $6,100,000 - Bobby Bonilla[?]
 1993 -  $6,200,000 - Bobby Bonilla[?]
 1994 -  $6,300,000 - Bobby Bonilla[?]
 1995 -  $9,237,500 - Cecil Fielder[?]
 1997 - $10,000,000 - Albert Belle[?]
 1998 - $14,936,667 - Gary Sheffield[?]
 2000 - $15,714,286 - Kevin Brown[?]
 2001 - $22,000,000 - Alex Rodriguez

The following chart reveals the Major League Baseball players that have earned the most total salary in their career (through the end of 2002). Data is verified through research by Doug Pappas[?].

 $95,095,000 - Greg Maddux
 $88,963,215 - Barry Bonds
 $87,901,000 - Roger Clemens
 $84,376,294 - Albert Belle[?]
 $83,747,644 - Kevin Brown[?]
 $82,659,654 - Ken Griffey Jr
 $81,593,335 - Gary Sheffield[?]
 $79,295,000 - Randy Johnson[?]
 $76,700,000 - Cal Ripken Jr (no data available for 1981-1984)
 $74,765,000 - Barry Larkin[?]
 $74,688,354 - Mark McGwire
 $74,568,000 - Sammy Sosa
 $73,297,996 - Rafael Palmiero[?]
 $72,363,430 - Larry Walker[?]
 $71,199,437 - Tom Glavine[?]
 $69,437,500 - Juan Gonzalez[?]
 $68,860,000 - Matt Williams[?]
 $68,342,501 - David Cone[?]
 $67,603,815 - Roberto Alomar[?]
 $67,014,000 - Frank Thomas[?]