For the first time in Major League Baseball history, the average salary in MLB exceeded $5 million on the opening day of the 2025 season, according to an analysis published by The Associated Press.
The exact average reached $5,160,245, representing a 3.6% increase over 2024. This increase marks a recovery after modest increases in the previous two years (1.5% in 2024 and 11.1% in 2023).
Highest paid
Dominican Juan Soto, now with the New York Mets, leads the MLB salary list with $61.9 million, breaking the previous record of $43.3 million shared by Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.
He is followed by Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler with $42 million, and others such as Jacob deGrom (Texas) and Aaron Judge (Yankees), both with $40 million.
Growing inequality
The Mets again lead the payroll with $322.6 million, just ahead of the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers with $319.5 million.
In contrast, the Miami Marlins are just over $64.9 million, ranking last after breaking the Oakland Athletics’ three-year streak as the lowest-spending team.
This increase marks a recovery after the modest increases of the previous two years
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In addition, only five teams are under $100 million in payroll:
Miami Marlins
Oakland A’s
Tampa Bay Rays
Chicago White Sox
Pittsburgh Pirates
Distribution of money
Buzzy
Wage concentration remains a key issue:
The 50 highest paid players receive 29% of total salaries.
The 100 highest paid, 48%, according to the AP study.
In contrast, 35 players earn the minimum salary of $760,000.
The median salary (the midpoint between the highest and lowest) also fell slightly: it now stands at $1.35 million, down from the record $1.65 million reached in 2015.
The Dodgers’ payroll reflects deferred payments, especially in the case of Shohei Ohtani, whose $70 million salary was valued at $28.2 million on the books because it will be paid through 2035.
Other players with deferred payments include Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, and Blake Snell.
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