A-Rod Out-Earns the Entire Marlins Roster

Let me just say right now that I have no problem with how much money athletes make. They spend their entire childhood's prepping for the chance to go pro, then if they get the chance to do so they have, on average, just 3 years to perform before an injury, age, or a host of other reasons send them packing. Sure, it's almost surreal some of the numbers that get thrown around, but I'm not bitter about it. I'd rather see the money go to the guys on the field, than the ones in the office (although they certainly deserve their fat paychecks as well). And like I've always said, if an actor can make $20 million per movie, surely a ballplayer deserves that kind of moolah too. Naturally, I'd be very happy to even make the "league minimum" salary, but last time I checked 40,000 people don't show up to watch me write guidebooks every day. Which is probably a good thing, because I really don't have enough chairs and I'd hate to have to wait in line to use my own bathroom.

(And before you send me an email saying "how much good" that money could do, please don't. I know. And I agree with you. It is quite ludicrous. But there's a lot more messed up stuff in this world than athlete's salaries, so I just smile and laugh and enjoy their performance).

With that in mind, I present to you this article on 2008 Major League Baseball salaries. Purely for entertainment purposes... and to maybe make you wish you took gym class a little more seriously back in elementary school.

NEW YORK — Alex Rodriguez makes more this year than his hometown Florida Marlins.

Boosted by his new deal with the New York Yankees, A-Rod tops the major-league-baseball salary list at $28 million, according to a study of contract terms by The Associated Press. The 33 players on the Marlins' opening-day roster and disabled list total $21.8 million.

"The Marlins? It's amazing," Rodriguez said. "And they still seem to find a way to be very competitive. They have a great pool of talent; they made some unbelievable trades, so they have great personnel people. To win two championships in 11 years, that's really admirable, and I'm very proud of that organization, being from Miami."

For the first time in baseball history, the average salary topped the $3 million mark. The 855 players on opening-day rosters and the DL averaged $3.15 million, up 7.1 percent from last year's starting average of $2.94 million.

Florida's highest earner doesn't even make the average. Pitcher Kevin Gregg tops the Marlins at $2.5 million.

"My best friend came into town, and he mentioned something about Johan Santana making $15 million more than our five starters combined," Marlins catcher Matt Treanor said. "It's something to laugh at, but at the same time, it is what it is. Those guys put on the uniform like us. When it comes time to start the game, it doesn't matter how much money the Yankees or whoever make."

Treanor's friend was exaggerating a bit — Santana makes $12 million more than Florida's rotation. Still, the Marlins' payroll was less than half that of the No. 29 team, Tampa Bay ($43.8 million).

"They've won a championship more recently than we have as an organization. So there's many different ways to skin a cat," said Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, whose team lost to Florida in the 2003 World Series. "Alex earned that contract in the negotiation. Right now, the Marlins are in a different place. But they've got a stadium coming on board and they're going in the right direction, and I think they've already proven they know how to build something."

You can read the entire article right here at the SeattleTimes.com.

The article includes two tables: one shows the salaries for each of the players on the Mariners opening-day roster (Ichiro rightfully tops the list with $17 million), and the second shows the total payroll and average salary for all 32 teams. The Mariners have the 9th highest payroll at $118 million. There are 11 teams over $100 million, 1 team over $200 million (and none within $70 million of it), and there are 4 teams below $50 million.