The game of baseball has been around since the 18 century, with the first known baseball team being formed in 1845. While beginning as a way to pass the time in the Civil War, baseball has evolved into a multibillion-dollar per year business. As a result, professional baseball players are paid an extraordinary amount of money – and you’re about to find out just how much. This article looks at the richest baseball player in the world and its closer runners-up.
15. Mariano Rivera
Net Worth: $80 Million
Mariano Rivera is arguably one of the greatest pitchers ever. He is the undisputed greatest closer of all time holding the career saves record with 652. Rivera's irreplaceable value and 19 year career helped him amass an impressive net worth of $80 million.
The Hall of Fame pitcher is most well known for his almost untouchable cutter and entrances to Yankees Stadium to Metallica hit song “Enter Sandman”. Rivera even has a World Series MVP (1999) under his belt. An impressive feat for someone who usually only plays 1 inning per game.
14. Nolan Ryan
Net Worth: $80 Million
Nolan Ryan is a legendary, larger-than-life figure. His baseball career is the stuff of legends. He holds the MLB record for career strikeouts with 5,714 K's. That is 14% more strikeouts than Randy Johnson in 2nd and over 1,000 more strikeouts than 3rd place Roger Clemens.
Ryan also has a record 7 No-Hitters. The 2nd most No-Hitters by a Major League Pitcher is 4 (Sandy Koufax). These are both records that are very unlikely to be broken. This guy was an all out stud in every way.
Ryan is unique to this list in that very few players from his era made a large sum of money playing baseball. Players from Ryan's era did not sign the outrageous contracts common in today's game. Nolan Ryan has amassed much of his $80 Million net worth through his various business ventures post baseball.
Nolan Ryan's Business Ventures include:
- Cattle Ranching
- Ownership of Minor League Baseball team Round Rock Express
- Nolan Ryan Beef
- R3 Sports Turf and Hospitality
- 2 Community Banks
- Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (Texas tea franchise)
13. Manny Ramirez
Net Worth: $90 Million
Manny Ramirez is a generational talent who always marched to the beat of his own drum. The saying “Manny being Manny” became a regular explanation for Ramirez's on the field and off the field antics.
Aside from his antics, Manny Ramirez enjoyed a 19 year MLB career with 5 different teams (Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox, and Tampa Bay Rays).
The Red Sox Hall of Famer (not National Baseball Hall of Fame to be clear) finished with a career .312 batting average, 555 home runs, and a long list of accolades. Ramirez also secured 2 World Series rings while playing for the Boston Red Sox.
19 years in Major League Baseball and 500 home runs is a good way to accumulate some massive wealth.
12. Joe Mauer
Net Worth: $100 Million
Joe Mauer was one of the most highly touted baseball prospects I can remember. While his name may not show up on a list of the top 100 MLB players of all time, nobody can accuse him of being overrated.
No other catcher has won 3 MLB batting titles (highest batting average). The Minnesota native spent all 15 of his MLB seasons with his hometown team, the Minnesota Twins.
Mauer was once ranked #86 on Forbes list of richest athletes (2018).
11. Barry Bonds
Net Worth: $100 Million
Barry Bonds legacy may be tainted in the eyes of certain fans because of his involvement in the controversy surrounding performance enhancing drugs in baseball. Barry's career hasn't stood the test of time compared to another baseball legend in Bo Jackson, but his net worth has held up substantially more. Controversy aside, it is hard to deny the baseball greatness of Barry Bonds.
I'll just go ahead and say it: Bonds is the greatest hitter the game has ever seen and there is no argument. The San Francisco Giants slugger belted 762 career home runs (surpassing Hank Aaron's long time record of 715) and also passed Mark McGwire for the single season Home Run record in 2001 with 73 HR's in one season.
If Bonds were playing today, he would like to be the first baseball player to sign a contract for half a billion dollars. Old timey contracts aside, Bonds net worth of $100 Million makes him one of the wealthiest baseball players today.
10. Joey Votto
Net Worth: $110 Million
Joey Votto may not have quite the career pedigree of other players on this list but he has made quite a nice living for himself. The Cincinnati Reds lifer has spent 16 years with the same team and slugged a career 362 HR's to this point.
Votto is still active in the MLB and making money.
Votto is a good example of the earning possible for a really solid Major League baseball player who can last 15 years plus in the big leagues.
9. Chipper Jones
Net Worth: $110 Million
Larry Wayne Jones Jr., more commonly known as Chipper Jones, spent his entire professional baseball career playing for the Atlanta Braves. Chipper Jones has had an incredibly successful career in Major League Baseball, winning the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1999 and the 1999 and 2000 National League Silver Slugger Award for third basemen.
Chipper Jones retired from baseball in 2012 and was hired by the Atlanta Braves as a hitting consultant in 2021. Jones' consistency and longevity have been a major contributor to his 9 figure net worth.
8. Randy Johnson
Net Worth: $115 Million
Randy Johnson, affectionately known as “the Big Unit,” is a former professional baseball pitcher. Playing primarily for the Seattle Mariners and the Arizona Diamondbacks, Randy Johnson had a lengthy career that outlasted most pitchers. At 6 foot 10 inches, he was the tallest player in Major League Baseball history when he entered the league in 1988, making him even more intimidating on top of his incredible talent.
Johnson has set many records, including setting the American League record for strikeouts by a left-handed pitcher in a nine-inning game and winning three games in a single World Series. He was also one of two recipients of the World Series Most Valuable Player award in 2001.
Elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015, six years after his retirement, Randy Johnson was named Special Assistant to Derrick Hall, the president of the Arizona Diamondbacks that same year. He has also taken up photography as a second career.
7. Max Scherzer
Net Worth: $120 Million
Max Scherzer is a pitcher for the New York Mets and is currently the highest paid MLB player of 2022. Before signing with the New York Mets in 2021, he previously played for the Washington Nationals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, and Los Angeles Dodgers. He won the World Series with the Washington Nationals in 2019.
The New York Mets signed Scherzer for a whopping $130 million deal for three years, giving him the highest salary of any baseball player in 2022. With a current net worth of $120 Million, Max Scherzer is already one of the richest baseball players in MLB history.
6. Ryan Howard
Net Worth: $120 Million
Ryan Howard, otherwise known as “the Big Piece,” spent the entirety of his career as the first baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies. Ryan Howard has seen tremendous success in his MLB career, holding records for the fastest player in history to reach 100 home runs and then 200 home runs. He also won the 2005 National League Rookie of the Year Award and the 2008 National League MVP Award.
While Ryan Howard signed a five-year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies for $125 million, it was cut short due to the injury of his Achilles tendon in 2011. Howard played his last game with the Phillies in October 2016 and retired officially from baseball in 2018.
5. Miguel Cabrera
Net Worth: $125 Million
Detroit Tiger first baseman “Miggy” is one of the richest baseball players of 2022. Born in Venezuela, Miguel Cabrera was signed to the Tigres de Aragua of the Venezuelan Winter League. He was signed soon after to the Florida Marlins as an amateur free agent before making his Major League Baseball debut in 2003. Cabrera is a two-time American League Most Valuable Player award winner, a 12-time MLB All-Star winner, and a four-time AL batting champion.
Miguel Cabrera put his fame and wealth to good use and started the Miguel Cabrera Foundation in 2012 to help various children's charities.
4. Albert Pujols
Net Worth: $180 Million
Albert Pujols is the current designated hitter and first baseman of the St. Louis Cardinals. The Dominican-American professional baseball player left the Cardinals after 11 seasons to play for the Los Angeles Angels for over nine seasons. He then joined the Los Angeles Dodgers for just half a season before returning to the St. Louis team for his final season. Albert Pujols plans to make 2022 his last year of professional baseball before retirement.
Pujols blazed the trail for the massive contracts common in today's game. This has allowed him to amass an impressive net worth of nearly $200 Million and a place on the list of the Richest Baseball Players Ever.
3. Ichiro Suzuki
Net Worth: $180 Million
Former Seattle Mariner outfielder Ichiro Suzuki is next on our list, with a net worth of $180 million. Known as just Ichiro by his fans, this professional baseball player played 28 successful seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB) combined.
Beginning his career with the Orix BlueWaves, he spent the next 14 years with the Seattle Mariners. Suzuki also played with the New York Yankees for two and a half seasons and then three with the Miami Marlins before returning to the Seattle Mariners for his final two seasons. Ichiro Suzuki was the first Major League Baseball player to enter the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame and will become the first player born in Japan to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
2. Derek Jeter
Net Worth: $185 Million
The second richest baseball player in the world is former New York Yankee, Derek Jeter. Jeter spent his two-decades-long career as a shortstop for the New York Yankees and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020.
Although Derek Jeter retired in 2014, he stayed actively involved in baseball. Jeter was CEO and part-owner of the Miami Marlins from 2017 to early 2022 and has plans to return to baseball in some capacity, eventually. For now, he continues many of his business ventures and philanthropic work, which he does quite often, as Derek Jeter is one of the most charitable athletes in the world. This famous baseball player has been involved in several more business ventures during his career and after his retirement. He even played cameos in Anger Management and The Other Guys.
1. Alex Rodriguez
Net Worth: $350 Million
Alex Rodriguez may have found a different kind of fame when he was engaged to international superstar Jennifer Lopez, but that doesn’t take away the fact that he’s the most successful baseball player of all time. Alex Rodriguez is the richest baseball player of 2022, with a net worth of $350 million.
Known as “A-Rod” to his fans, Alex Rodriguez played 22 successful seasons in Major League Baseball as both a shortstop and third baseman. Beginning his professional baseball career with the Seattle Mariners in 1994, A-Rod would play for the Texas Rangers in 2001 and the New York Yankees in 2004.
While Alex Rodriguez retired from baseball officially in 2016, he is currently involved in several other business ventures. He is the chief executive officer and chairman of investment company A-Rod Corp and is chairman of Presidente beer. While no longer involved in professional baseball, Alex Rodriguez owns a share of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves.
