Total earnings

The following chart reveals the Major League Baseball players that have earned the most total salary in their career (through the end of 2004).

$122,463,215 - Barry Bonds
$115,845,000 - Greg Maddux 
$115,176,216 - Kevin Brown 
$110,501,000 - Ken Griffey, Jr.
$110,295,000 - Randy Johnson 
$106,568,000 - Sammy Sosa
$106,010,002 - Gary Sheffield 
$103,001,000 - Roger Clemens
$100,405,001 - Mo Vaughn
$100,027,000 - Alex Rodriguez
$ 97,696,764 - Larry Walker
$ 97,376,294 - Albert Belle (retired)
$ 94,694,000 - Pedro Martinez
$ 94,354,573 - Mike Piazza
$ 92,965,045 - Tom Glavine
$ 90,775,000 - Jeff Bagwell
$ 89,242,858 - Bernie Williams
$ 88,095,446 - John Smoltz
$ 86,437,500 - Juan Gonzalez
$ 86,299,000 - Carlos Delgado
$ 86,297,996 - Rafael Palmeiro
$ 86,032,727 - Manny Ramirez
$ 84,465,000 - Barry Larkin
$ 84,392,167 - Mike Mussina
$ 78,860,000 - Matt Williams (retired)
$ 78,014,000 - Frank (Edward) Thomas
$ 77,830,000 - Derek Jeter
$ 76,700,000 - Cal Ripken, Jr. (no data available for 1981-1984)
$ 75,603,815 - Roberto Alomar
$ 74,688,354 - Mark McGwire (retired)
$ 73,510,000 - Ivan Rodriguez
$ 73,068,835 - Shawn Green
$ 70,015,500 - Craig Biggio
$ 68,143,667 - John Olerud
$ 68,342,501 - David Cone (retired)
$ 65,658,000 - Curt Schilling
$ 65,470,000 - Raul Mondesi
$ 64,490,332 - Chipper Jones
$ 62,446,543 - Mike Hampton
$ 61,100,100 - Al Leiter

Annual Salary

The following chart reveals the evolution of the highest paid player in Major League Baseball. A player's yearly salary is considered to be for the maximum value of the contract divided by the term of the contract in years.

YEAR    $ALARY/YR  PLAYER             TEAM/ORGANIZATION
1927      $70,000  Babe Ruth          New York Yankees
1930      $80,000  Babe Ruth          New York Yankees
1949     $100,000  Ted Williams       Boston Red Sox
1966     $130,000  Willie Mays        San Francisco Giants
1972     $200,000  Hank Aaron         Atlanta Braves
1975     $740,000  Catfish Hunter     New York Yankees

Major League Baseball's reserve clause was struck down in 1976, beginning an era of free agency and thus market-value player contracts

1979   $1,000,000  Nolan Ryan         Houston Astros 
1981   $2,000,000  Dave Winfield      New York Yankees
1985   $2,130,300  Mike Schmidt       Philadelphia Phillies
1986   $2,800,000  George Foster      New York Mets
1990   $3,000,000  Rickey Henderson   Oakland Athletics
1991   $4,700,000  Jose Canseco       Oakland Athletics
1992   $5,800,000  Bobby Bonilla      New York Mets
1993   $5,975,000* Ryne Sandberg      Chicago Cubs
1995   $9,237,500  Cecil Fielder      Detroit Tigers
1997  $10,000,000  Albert Belle       Cleveland Indians
1998  $14,936,667  Gary Sheffield     Florida Marlins
2000  $15,714,286  Kevin Brown        Los Angeles Dodgers
2001  $22,000,000* Alex Rodriguez     Texas Rangers

Ryne Sandberg's 1993 contract was originally for $7,100,000 per year, but he retired before the contract expired and forfeited the back-loaded end of the contract. Alex Rodriguez's 2001 contract was originally for $25,200,000 per year but was later renegotiated to average $22,000,000.

Bibliography

"The Century in Dollars and Cents", Seattle Post-Intelligencer [1]