Highest Paid MLB Players

MLB teams that commit a ton of money to high-priced talent is a big risk. If that risk pays off, then they have one of the premier players in the game. If not, then they are locked in to a bad contract that can hurt their chances of bringing in new talent. We’ll take a look at the top five MLB players in terms of earnings for the 2015 season, and see whether or not they are worth their contract. According to Forbes, Clayton Kershaw is the highest-paid player in all of baseball, bringing 31.2 million dollars between his contract and endorsements. Kershaw has pretty good numbers with a 2.85 ERA and 160 strikeouts on the season, but the league’s highest-paid player should do better than a 6-6 record. Kershaw doesn’t even lead his team in ERA, WHIP, and wins – that honor goes to Zach Greinke. Still, the online sportsbooks  love Kershaw, having him listed as the favorite in every one of his starts, including eight times as a favorite of -200 or higher. The Cubs’ Jon Lester comes in at #2 on our list, pulling in 30.4 million dollars, and while he has pitched well for the Cubbies, his losing 4-7 record suggests the Cubs could have spent that money more wisely. Lester hasn’t won a game since the middle of May, and while poor run support certainly doesn’t help, for that kind of money the Cubs expected more.  Still, the online sportsbooks have listed Lester as the favorite in all but three of his starts. Justin Verlander is the third consecutive pitcher on our list, however his poor start gets a pass since he’s recovering from injury. Verlander has only made four starts this year, but it hasn’t been pretty as the Tigers have lost all four games and Verlander has struggled with a 6.75 ERA through those games. Robinson Cano and Albert Pujols round out are top five highest paid players of 2015, representing the first non-pitching players on our list. Cano has been a huge disappointment with a .252 average and just six home runs, being the face of an offense that ranks dead last in the majors with a .231 team batting average. Pujols has been far better by comparison, leading the American League in home runs as of this writing. Of course, nobody has it better than ex-Met Bobby Bonilla, who retired in 2001 but still receives a check for 1.2 million dollars every year until 2035!