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Baseball's 10 Richest Players
The World Series starts today, but the score is already in—Yankees 5, Phillies 1—in the money game. The Daily Beast crunches the numbers to determine the 10 highest-earning baseball players.
The World Series, which begins today, will determine 2009 on-field primacy, as two classic franchises, the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies, battle for the crown. But in a longer-lasting contest—money—the results are already in: The Daily Beast set out to determine the 10 biggest-earners in baseball, factoring in salaries, bonuses and endorsement income. And if wallet size translates into runs, the Yankees will win in a rout—five Yankees clock in among the top 10, and took the first four slots. The Phillies placed one player, Ryan Howard, who eked out the final spot on our list.
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“Baseball players are now very limited on a national level,” says Steve Rosner, co-founder of 16W Marketing, which represents squeaky clean Cal Ripken, Jr. “It’s all about finding the right guy.”
Another factor placing downward pressure on baseball-player endorsements: a culture that makes everyone a celebrity. “You have a proliferation of reality stars, chefs, etc.,” says Doug Shabelman, president of Burns Entertainment. “They’re now endorsing products that athletes would have been perfect for years ago.”
Cry not for the men paid millions to play a game. The minimum salary for a wet-eared rookie is $400,000, many hundred players make more than $1 million a year, and you needed almost $17 million in income just to crack our Top 10.
• Baseball’s All-Time Sexiest Wives and GirlfriendsHere were the rules of our game: We calculated money paid in 2009, encompassing salary, bonuses, and endorsement deals. The money had to come this year: Deferred income wasn’t counted (which removed several favorites for this list, Ichiro Suzuki, Manny Ramirez and Johan Santana), and only signing bonuses paid in 2009 were counted. Hopefully, our figures mirror their tax returns. Through public and proprietary sources, we saw the details of each player’s contract; our endorsement figures are estimates, based on numerous conversations with industry experts.
Did your favorite player make the cut? See our full list.
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Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
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Jeff Madrick is a contributor to the New York Review of Books and a former economics columnist for the New York Times. He is editor of Challenge Magazine, visiting professor of humanities at Cooper Union, and senior fellow at the New School's Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis. He is the author of Taking America, The End of Affluence (Random House) and The Case for Big Government.
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"Money can't buy you love," someone smart once wrote. It's all about heart and that means the Phillies will win in six. From one Mauiboy to another, put it all on the line, Shane, baby!
Yankees in Five.
sophia5
Should have been 4........They bought it!! Got screwed one game .
"Damn Yankees" as an angel fan i never imagined i could possibly have empathy for the red sox. 5 out of the top 9 highest paid on the yankees?! forget health care reform, obama needs to spread the wealth in the MLB.
As an objective Yankee fan,
got to admit it is getting a little embarrassing to see them "collect" a team. Imagine if they signed Joe Mauer ?
That would be "too much" as if it's not already.
It'll be especially embarrassing when they loose. Lee will shut them down tonight......
See what a good union and avoidance of anti-trust laws can do for you?
wow DailyBeast you may want to check out real compilations of biggest earners in baseball...you missed a ton (weirdly missed manny ramirez)...does anybody there know anything about sports?
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/salaries/top50
Maybe using your rules this is an accurate list of slaries but that still leaves a completely wrong title. With "richest" I was expecting a list of who has earned the most money in their career (maybe even kept/invested), not who earned more this year. Forbes Richest list isn't who earned more in the past year. Even if these guys earn 33 million how much of that do they blow on roids and has-been starlets?
Why is it called " world series" when all of them are AMericans? what're other countries playing with you? It's such an arrogant title.
Not all the players are Americans... Of the two teams still in it, there are several players from the Dominican Republic, as well as South Korea, Panama, Canada, Mexico, and Japan...
oh I see, but I am wondering if they get credits for that as a team or they are all playing for " an American team" anyway? how's that work exactly?
From the Daily Beast;
"But in a longer-lasting contest-money-the results are already in: The Daily Beast set out to determine the 10 biggest-earners in baseball, factoring in salaries, bonuses and endorsement income. And if wallet size translates into runs, the Yankees will win in a rout-five Yankees clock in among the top 10, and took the first four slots. The Phillies placed one player, Ryan Howard, who eked out the final spot on our list."
Don't feel sorry for either team .Feel sorry for our people out of work .
A-Rod ,275 Million , and an admitted cheat on and off the field .Yet Yankee fans cheer this scumbag every time he bats .
What is wrong with this picture ?
Those of you that thought the Yanks would not win the series, raise your hand .Lets see , they are the BEST team MONEY could buy .Highest paid pitchter in baseball, highest paid scumbag third basemen in baseball .Highest payroll in baseball .
Manager? Howdy Doody could manage that payroll and win.
Look at Torrie . Big shot while managing the Yanks , sucked with all other teams .His divison is a joke also..It is a shame when other teams cannot compete in smaller markets.It is a damn shame .I pray the Phills will win just to take the smiles off of A-Rod , Jeter, and Steinbrenner .
I know , I AM NOT A PHILS FAN EITHER .
Thank you.
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