MLB
Who is the highest paid player in MLB? What is Shohei Ohtani’s salary?
Shohei Ohtani will make more money in the 2023 Major League Baseball season than Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Aaron Judge - but how much?
MLB Opening Day is just days away and the player to watch during the 2023 campaign will be Japanese star Shohei Ohtani. And to top off his World Baseball Classic win, according to Sportico, the man born in Oshu is the player who will earn the most money this year.
Ohtani’s salary grew six-fold from 2022 to 2023. Last year he earned $5.5 million and to avoid the arbitration process, the Angels will pay him $30 million during the season that is about to start. In addition, the Japanese star is the player that generates the most money through endorsements: according to Sportico, Ohtani will get $40 million for sponsorship, with deals that include New Balance, BOSS, Fanatics, Kowa and Seiko.
It is also expected that at the end of the year the two-way player will sign the largest contract in the history of MLB.
Highest-paid players in Major League Baseball
After Ohtani, the players earning the most money in 2023 are pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, both of the New York Mets, along with outfielders Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Mike Trout of the Angels.
Scherzer has the highest salary in the whole of the MLB with $43.3 million. Add to that $15 million owed to him by the Nationals and another $2 million from his endorsements, he pockets a total of $60.3 million.
How much will Ohtani earn in 2023?
Verlander left the Astros for the Mets to earn $43.3 million, the same salary as Scherzer. Kate Upton’s husband will earn $1 million in sponsorship deals, making a total of $44.3 million.
Judge became the home runs leader in 2022 and the Yankees awarded him a $40 million-per-season contract. Likewise, he generates $4 million more for his activities away from baseball.
Trout, Ohtani’s teammate in Los Angeles, is the latest player to earn more than $40 million in 2023 with a total of $40.5 million. The USA Baseball captain gets $5 million from endorsements with Nike, Rawlings, Body Armour and Budweiser, among others; his salary of 35.5 million is the second highest of the Angels.