MLB
What is the highest contract in the MLB?
The two highest sports contracts of all time have been awarded to a soccer player and an NFL quarterback. Most of the others who make the top ten… play baseball.
Professional athletes are famous for landing multi-million-dollar contracts- among them, a significant number of MLB players.
The largest contracts in Major League Baseball are so substantial, they have made it to the all-time list of most lucrative sports deals.
Other baseball stories:
MLB players: among the highest all-time contracts
The record for the biggest sports contract belongs to soccer star striker Lionel Messi, who had a $674 million contract with FC Barcelona (over four years).
In second place is quarterback Patrick Mahomes, whose agreement with the Kansas City Chiefs is worth up to $503 million.
At number three is left fielder Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels with $426.5 million (over 12 years). In fourth place is boxer Canelo Alvarez at $365 million (over five years).
After that continues the dominance of the bat- those who sit at numbers five to 10 play in Major League Baseball. In fact, 16 out of the 20 biggest contracts of all time go to players of this game.
More years for MLB players
The contract values of baseball players are huge because their deals last longer than those of other sports. Baseball after all is largely a non-contact sport and signing long-term agreements is a relatively safe investment, as players are not as injury-prone as those in other disciplines.
However, this also means that they don’t necessarily receive the biggest amount per year, because the money is spread out over more time.
Contracts for MLB players are significantly longer than those in the NFL or the NBA. Among the top 100 biggest contracts in the NFL, only one reaches ten years- that of Mahomes; while in the NBA, the longest contract for the highest-paid players runs for five years at most, such as those for Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, and Luka Doncic.
In professional baseball, Trout’s deal with the Angels is not the only one that is good for 12 years. The second-highest MLB contract belonging to Mookie Betts, right fielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers, also lasts that long.
The deal that runs over the longest period of time among the top 100 baseball contracts belongs to shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres, which is good for 14 years.
Here are the top ten biggest contracts in Major League Baseball according to Spotrac.
10 biggest baseball contracts
| NAME | TEAM | SIGNED AGE | CONTRACT (YRS) | CONTRACT VALUE ($) |
| Mike Trout | Los Angeles Angels | 27 | 12 | 426,500,000 |
| Mookie Betts | Los Angeles Dodgers | 27 | 12 | 365,000,000 |
| Francisco Lindor | New York Mets | 27 | 10 | 341,000,000 |
| Fernando Tatis Jr. | San Diego Padres | 22 | 14 | 340,000,000 |
| Bryce Harper | Philadelphia Phillies | 26 | 13 | 330,000,000 |
| Giancarlo Stanton | Miami Marlins | 25 | 13 | 325,000,000 |
| Corey Seager | Texas Rangers | 27 | 10 | 325,000,000 |
| Gerrit Cole | New York Yankees | 29 | 9 | 324,000,000 |
| Manny Machado | San Diego Padres | 26 | 10 | 300,000,000 |
| Nolan Arenado | Colorado Rockies | 27 | 8 | 260,000,000 |