Historic: These MLB stars' mega earnings are breaking new ground in baseball
In 2025, the highest-earning players in Major League Baseball are set to cross a significant income threshold.
The history of baseball has many memorable chapters, but none have been written with quite so many zeros.
How much will MLB’s top stars earn this year?
In 2025, Japanese star Shohei Ohtani and Dominican slugger Juan Soto will break a barrier once thought reserved for European soccer and the NBA: both will surpass the $100 million earnings mark in a single year, according to figures compiled by Sportico.
One will achieve this through unparalleled commercial magnetism, and the other through a contract that rewrote market rules.
Ohtani, the Japanese phenomenon who has redefined what it means to be a major league star, will generate nine-figure income this year through a base salary of $2 million and a growing empire of endorsements.
His deals with brands such as New Balance, Seiko and Fanatics have made him a global marketing giant, on a par with Tiger Woods and Roger Federer in their prime.
Ohtani signed a $700-million contract with the Dodgers in late 2023, but $68 million of his $70 million annual salary is deferred until after 2034.
The 30-year-old’s impact on MLB has been so immense that the 2024 World Series, in which the Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees, averaged 12.9 million viewers per game in Japan.
Such viewing figures are comparable to the championship series’ U.S. audience.
The 50/50 Club welcomes its first member, Shohei Ohtani. pic.twitter.com/hiKkIVadvQ
— New Balance (@newbalance) September 20, 2024
On the other side of the diamond is Soto, the hitter who turned patience at the plate into a fortune.
His new, $765 million contract with the New York Mets included a $75 million signing bonus, catapulting his total income to $129 million in 2025.
Unlike Ohtani, his wealth comes almost entirely from the field, making him the best example of how pure talent can dominate the market.
At a glance - MLB’s top-paid players:
| Player | Team | Salary | Sponsors | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juan Soto | Mets | $121.9m | $7m | $128.9m |
| Shohei Ohtani | Dodgers | $2m | $100m | $102m |
| Blake Snell | Dodgers | $64.8m | $750k | $65.6m |
| Aaron Judge | Yankees | $40m | $7m | $47m |
| Zack Wheeler | Phillies | $42m | $200k | $42.2m |
MLB’s pay divide
Soto and Ohtani’s rise to membership of the $100 million club highlights the significant economic disparity that continues to mark MLB.
In New York and Los Angeles, there are 13 players who earn more than $25 million a year, while in the rest of the league, only 14 players reach that income level.
In divisions like the American League Central and the National League Central, only two players appear on the list of the 25 highest-paid.
Even so, baseball is experiencing a new golden era. And as the bank balances of the league’s best-paid stars continue to grow, the question is: who will be the next player to reach $100 million?
Article originally written in Spanish, before translated with the assistance of AI, and edited by William Allen.
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