MLB Average Salary Tops $4 Million

For the first time in Major League Baseball history the average salary for a MLB player has topped the $4 million mark. The mark is a new record for the league thanks in large part to teams like the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw has the largest average annual value per season with $31 million while his Los Angeles team has the highest payroll in baseball at $270 million. Major League Baseball has had the largest two year growth in more than a decade due in large part to the re-emergence of the Dodgers, the Miami Marlins spending money again and the Yankees being the Yankees and the entire league is benefiting from it.

The average salary for this season heading into the season looks to be $4.25 million according to the Associated Press which is up from $3.95 million in 2014 and $3.65 million in 2013. The last year before free agency was introduced into the game, 1976, the average player was making $50,000 so you can see the steep increase we have seen across the years even with the strike that ended the World Series in 1994.